Tribunals Under Article 323B

As defined by dictionaries and thesauruses, a tribunal is a body or court that is established with the sole point of preceding over only a certain matter or case. Tribunals are specially appointed only when there is a grave dispute involved. It is expected that as of May 2021, there are almost 1 lakh cases that are pending for more than thirty years in various high courts of India. The Supreme Court is expected to have about 70,000 cases which are pending as of 2021. This delay in relaying justice creates a sense of doubt and mistrust amongst people against the judicial system.

Article 323A and 323B of the Indian Constitution were first enacted in the year of 1976. This happened through the 42nd amendment. 

A list of tribunals in India is also given below, along with their duties.

What Do You Mean By Tribunals?

As defined by dictionaries and thesauruses, a tribunal is a body or court that is established with the sole point of preceding over only a certain matter or case. Tribunals are specially appointed only when there is a grave dispute involved.

A question that comes to mind here is, how are courts and tribunals different from each other? As mentioned in the previous paragraph, tribunals deal with only certain types of cases and settle only certain disputes whereas, courts deal with and solve all different types of disputes.

The objective of appointing such tribunals is to reduce the workload on the judiciary system and courts. While this was one of the main reasons why tribunals were enacted, now they are facing the same problems as other courts; pending caseloads as well as large caseloads.

Tribunal System in India

It is expected that as of May 2021, there are almost 1 lakh cases that are pending for more than thirty years in various high courts of India. The Supreme Court is expected to have about 70,000 cases which are pending as of 2021. This delay in relaying justice creates a sense of doubt and mistrust amongst people against the judicial system.

Article 323A and 323B of the Indian Constitution were first enacted in the year of 1976. This happened through the 42nd amendment. 

Article 323A allows the central government to create and appoint tribunals at state as well as local levels which will deal with the disputes where there is an involvement of recruitment and service of public servants.

Article 323B states certain topics like land reforms and taxation can allow the state as well as the central government to appoint a tribunal by enacting a law.

In 2010, the Supreme Court made a statement saying that Article 323B was not just limited to topics like land reform and taxation but if the need be seen any state government can enact a tribunal for the matter they deem as an issue.

How Does The Tribunal System Work in India?

The following diagram shows how tribunals work and handle cases:

From the above diagram, it is clear that tribunals are appointed by the Supreme and High courts and no tribunal can be appointed to solve cases that are pending or have been passed to the Supreme Court.

List Of Tribunals Appointed Till Date In India

Below given is the list of tribunals in India:

1. National Green Tribunal: Deals with issues related to the environment.

2. Armed Forces Tribunal: Addresses and solves complaints related to people working in the armed forces.

3. Income Tax Appellate Tribunal: Files appeals that are against authorities working in income tax.

4. Debt Recovery Tribunal: Recovers debts on behalf of banks and financial institutions.

5. Customs, excise and service tax appellate tribunal: Hearings that fall under the Customs Act and Central Excise act take place in this tribunal.

Conclusion

 As seen this article talks about tribunals. As defined by dictionaries and thesauruses, a tribunal is a body or court that is established with the sole point of preceding over only a certain matter or case. Tribunals are specially appointed only when there is a grave dispute involved. It is expected that as of May 2021, there are almost 1 lakh cases that are pending for more than thirty years in various high courts of India. The Supreme Court is expected to have about 70,000 cases which are pending as of 2021. This delay in relaying justice creates a sense of doubt and mistrust amongst people against the judicial system.

Article 323A and 323B in the Indian Constitution have been explained along with a list of tribunals in India.