Take interim steps for appointments in tribunals: SC to Govt
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and other stakeholders to sit together and formulate an "interim arrangement" to deal with appointments to be made in various tribunals in the country.
The top court, hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Finance Act 2017 and the rules under it to regulate issue like appointment and tenure of members of tribunals, said that though it would deal with this aspect later, the issue of vacancies have to be addressed on an urgent basis as tribunals have to be "manned".
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked Attorney General K K Venugopal, representing the Centre, and senior lawyers like Arvind Datar and C A Sundaram, appearing for those opposed to the new Act, to sit together and make an "interim arrangement" to deal with appointments in tribunals in view of the fact that the new law and the Rules are under challenge before it.
The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said, "The petitions are pending here. But, tribunals have to be manned. We have to find an interim solution".
The bench posted the matters on February 2 when it may finalise the interim arrangement to deal with the appointments till it finally decides on the validity of the new law and the rules, which govern the affairs of the panels including the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
During the hearing, the counsel for petitioners, including Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and NGO Social Action for Forest and Environment, said the issue was whether Parliament can delegate its rule-making powers to the executive and can those rules undermine the power of judiciary in making appointments to the tribunals.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing as amicus curiae, said that earlier there used to be three judicial and two executive members in the selection committees, meant for choosing presiding officers and members to the tribunals, but now the position has been reversed and the executive has got more say in the selection.
Datar said the tenure of the Chairperson appointed to the Tribunals should be extended to five years instead of three years now.
"The committee appointing judicial members to tribunals like NGT and other tribunals should comprise only two members from the Union Government, instead of the present rule allowing three members from Centre and two members from judicial background," he said.
The Finance Act and the rules framed are striking at the root of independence of quasi-judicial bodies, he said.
In the same vein, another lawyer said "the tribunals will now be controlled by the executive."
Earlier, the apex court had directed the Centre to file amended draft rules, to be framed under the 2017 Finance Act which would deal with appointment and service conditions of judicial and non-judicial members of as many as 19 tribunals including the NGT and the CAT.
The court had asked Venugopal that the draft amended Tribunal, Appellate and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017, which would govern the procedure of appointment, removal and service conditions of chairperson and members of tribunals, be filed before it.
Several individuals and organisations have moved the apex court challenging the constitutional validity of the 2017 Finance Act and the rules alleging that these would destroy independent functioning of tribunals as they give primacy to the executive in deciding the constitution, qualifications of members, their appointments and removal from tribunals.
The new law and rules provide that the appointment committees, to be headed by the CJI or his nominees, will have more members from the Executive and hence, undermined the judicial independence of tribunals and impinged upon the doctrine of separation of powers, the petitions alleged.
Earlier, the apex court had issued notices on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 2017 law and rules framed under the statute.
The Finance Act, which came into effect from April 1 last year, led to framing of the Rules and they allegedly gave "unbridled" powers to the Executive to decide Constitution, qualifications of members, their appointments and removal etc, they said.
One of the petitions said the alterations brought about by the Finance Act, would weaken functioning of tribunals including the NGT and curtail their powers.
It claimed that the tribunal rules have severely diluted the minimum qualifications for appointment of members to the NGT, including the chairperson and judicial members.
It claimed that there was a "clear and present danger of persons being appointed as the chairperson/judicial members of the NGT, who have no judicial or even legal training and experience" and of those without significant technical and scientific knowledge being appointed as expert members, which violated the guidelines laid down by the apex court.
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Mamata blames AIMIM, ISF for gherao of judicial officers; accuses Congress, BJP of instigation
Harirampur (WB) (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday blamed AIMIM and ISF for the gherao of judicial officers in Malda district and accused the Congress and the BJP of instigation.
Stating that the mastermind behind Wednesday's gherao of the judicial officers for several hours in Malda district's Mothabari was arrested by the state's CID, Banerjee claimed that this police organisation is still under her control and not of the Election Commission.
"The BJP loaned him (the accused) from the AIMIM and brought him here," she alleged, while addressing an election rally at Harirampur in Dakshin Dinajpur district.
"ISF is with them; Congress and BJP have also provided instigation," the Trinamool Congress chief alleged, stating that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the main accused, advocate Mofakkarul Islam, from Bagdogra airport when he was trying to flee.
"It is they who engineered the violence in Malda's Mothabari," she said.
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Alleging that goons are being brought in from outside to create unrest in poll-bound West Bengal, Banerjee said, "They don't even spare the judges."
Banerjee accused the AIMIM, whose chief Asaduddin Owaisi has come out in support of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), floated recently by former TMC MLA Humayun Kabir, of having divided votes in the Bihar assembly elections to help the BJP win the polls.
Kabir has vowed to take on the TMC and also the BJP in all assembly seats in Muslim-majority Murshidabad district.
Pointing out that voters' names were deleted during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise and expressing agreement with their anguish, Banerjee said she has fought for their rights and for their names to be included in the electoral rolls.
She questioned why the assembly polls cannot be conducted with the same electoral rolls used in the 2024 general elections.
"If the voter list contained names of infiltrators, Modi also won with their votes earlier, so he should resign first," she said.
"Money is being brought in using CRPF vehicles," she alleged, claiming that she knows where these were going.
"I have a record of these movements and will expose them at the appropriate time," she said.
Banerjee said that the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in West Bengal during the polls will lead to a reduction in the BJP's vote share.
Shah has said he would camp in West Bengal for 15 days during the two-phase assembly elections in the state on April 23 and 29.
"You may stay in West Bengal for 365 days, but that will not change anything," Banerjee said.
Accusing the BJP of having created a ruckus near her Kalighat residence on Thursday during the nomination rally of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, led by Shah, she said, "It is futile to expect any courtesy from them."
Claiming that the names of 40,000 voters of Bhabanipur constituency, from where she is contesting to get reelected, have been deleted in the SIR exercise, she asserted, despite that the TMC will win this election.
"I am your candidate in all the 294 constituencies in the state... Forget whose name is there as our party nominee," the TMC chief said.
She also accused the BJP of trying to impose a new version of religion on people.
"The BJP is trying to spread venom amongst people," she said, maintaining that she celebrates festivals of all religions.
Banerjee said her MPs have told her that the BJP is planning to bring in the Delimitation Bill in Parliament.
Asserting that the BJP will lose in the 2026 assembly polls, Banerjee said that the saffron party will be driven out of Delhi after defeat in West Bengal.
"They want to divide Bengal again," she said, claiming that a map had surfaced on social media showing a proposal to carve out a new state comprising some districts of Bihar and north Bengal.
The TMC supremo claimed to have done a lot for the development of the Santals.
"I have written poems in the Rajbangshi language and in Ol Chiki script; many decry me, let them do so, but people know that over 145 books written by me have already been published," she said.
The chief minister said that the Election Commission has appointed new DGP, police commissioners, district magistrates and other officers.
"I know they are all from West Bengal and will support the state," she said, maintaining that they should not listen to the BJP and instead work for the people.
"They don't need to support me; they should ensure that there is no violence, no money laundering, and firearms and drugs are not brought in," Banerjee said.
"For the time being, power has been taken away from us, but we will come back soon and take stock of everything," the TMC chief asserted.
