Aishwarya Rathore-
Published on: September 15, 2021 at 14:59 IST
The Supreme Court on Wednesday continued its criticism of the Union Government in the matter relating to the filling up of vacancies in Tribunals.
The Special Bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice L Nageswara Rao, voiced dissatisfaction with the Centre’s recent appointments of officials for the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and Income Tax Appeal Tribunal (ITAT).
The Bench observed that the Centre was picking names at random from a list of proposals provided by the Selection Committee, which was headed by sitting Supreme Court Judges.
The Bench stated, “The Search cum Selection Committee (SCSC) recommended nine judicial members and ten technical members for National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The appointment letter issued that as if members were ‘cherry picked’ and some were kept on waiting. We cannot ignore selected candidates and go to waitlist. What type of selection and appointment is this?”
The Bench added, “The same thing has happened with the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.”
Attorney General KK Venugopal informed the Court that the Centre will appoint people for the Tribunals from the SCSC’s list of candidates within two weeks.
The Court was entertaining numerous petitions addressing unfilled vacancies in several Tribunals, as well as contesting the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021, which established the tenures and other service conditions of Tribunal employees.
The Court posted the case after a week.
Also Read: Supreme Court Criticizes Centre on Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021