The Indian Tribunals: Complication Eterne Esha Ghosh Ambika Kashyap

Abstract

The Tribunals are the quasi-judicial bodies that are created to reduce the work load of the courts and provide speedy remedy to the victims in certain cases. The tribunals are not exactly courts, nor do they follow the fundamental hierarchy of the courts. The rules of the courts are somewhat relaxed when it comes to the tribunals. With the amendment brought into the constitution of India, the tribunals have been given the power to settle certain disputes which no longer in the jurisdiction of the district courts. The applet jurisdiction of the of the High Court and the Supreme Courts are sometimes in question specifically when the judicial impression has become such that the tribunals tend to exclude all other jurisdiction and concentrate them to one decision making body. This paper seeks to analyze this concept along with the different reports that have been published in this regard. In India, the function of dispensing justice is entrusted to regularly established Courts on the pattern of Common law system. History of tribunals in India stands reflected dating back to the year 19411, when first Tribunal was established in the form of Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunals were however, set up to reduce the workload of courts, to expedite decisions and to provide a forum which would be manned by lawyers and experts in the areas falling under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. The Constitution (Forty-Second Amendment) Act of 1976 brought about a massive change in the adjudication of disputes in the country. It provided for the insertion of Articles 323-A and 323-B in the Constitution of India, whereby the goal of establishment of Administrative Tribunals by the Parliament as well as the State Legislatures, to adjudicate the matters specified in the sub-clauses is made possible.2 There is a distinction between Article 323-A and 323-B as the former gives exclusive power to the Parliament and the latter gives power to the concerned State Legislature which is concurrent in nature by which the Parliament and the State Legislature can by law, constitute Tribunals for the respective subjects specifiedtherein. This is evident from the explanation appended to Article 323-B of the Constitution. The provisions of both these Articles are to be given effect 1 Walker, David M., Oxford Companion to Law, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-866110-X, 1980 at p.1239. 2 6 Supra Note 2 at 271. Volume 1 - Issue 3 November, 2021 ISSN: 2582-9947 irrespective of any other provision of the Constitution or any other law for the time being in force.3