Parliamentary Standing Committee’s 166th Report on Tribunal System
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice presents its 166th Report on the ‘Review of Functioning of Tribunal System in the Country’. The report flags systemic issues across tribunals and provides for tribunal-wise evidence and recommended reforms.
166th Report on ‘Review of Functioning of Tribunal System in the Country’:
| Dimension | Key Details |
|---|---|
| Committee | The report is presented by the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. |
| Report number and subject | The committee’s 166th Report comprises a review of the functioning of the tribunal system in the country. |
| Vacancies in presiding and registry cadres | Significant member and registry vacancies are disrupting tribunal hearings and administration. ITAT has 27 of 126 Member posts and all 7 Deputy Registrar posts vacant, while NGT has only 5 Judicial and 6 Expert Members against the statutory minimum of 10 each. The report recommends advance recruitment and priority filling of essential registry and support posts through coordinated action with relevant ministries and recruitment agencies. |
| Over-reliance on contractual and outsourced personnel | The issue comprises high contractual staffing and outsourcing dependence: NCLT comprises >95% administrative staff as contractual; TDSAT comprises a staff strength frozen at 52 posts since 2001; the report provides for staffing audits, creation of permanent posts, and exploration of valid waiting or reserve lists to replace resignations and reduce recruitment delays. |
| Escalating backlogs and timeline breaches | The issue comprises rising pendency and breaches of timelines: ITAT comprises 19,275 additional pending cases in 5 months; NCLT comprises frequent breach of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) timelines; the report provides for enforced monthly disposal and order-pronouncement timelines, and case-management via stage-wise databases for legacy cases and dedicated subject Benches to balance dockets. |
| Inadequate and ageing infrastructure | The issue comprises outdated or rented premises and constrained expansion: NCLT courtrooms comprise failures against NCMS standards; RCT comprises no separate capital budget and depends on Zonal Railways; the report provides for dedicated capital budgets to ensure financial autonomy and for replacement of rented or old premises with permanent complexes meeting judicial standards. |
| IT obsolescence and digital transformation gaps | Tribunals face outdated IT infrastructure, fragmented case-management systems, and inadequate technical support. NGT lacks a dedicated internal IT section, while NCLT’s e-Court portal has exceeded its lifecycle. The report recommends permanent IT teams at all Benches, upgraded hardware and software, priority implementation of NCLT 2.0, and regular cyber-security audits. |
| Domain-specific gaps and limited public access | Tribunals face gaps in specialised expertise and uneven access to justice. TDSAT’s member structure has remained unchanged since 2001 despite emerging issues such as cyber fraud, Aadhaar, and AI, while RCT provides legal aid at only 9 of 23 benches. The report recommends regular specialised training with technical institutions, multilingual information, universal filing mechanisms such as a “Zero FIR” model, and expanded legal-aid desks. |