Why have tribunals at all if you can’t fill vacancies? Bombay High Court to Central government

The Bombay High Court on Friday came down upon the Central government for failing to fill vacancies in tribunals [Canara Bank Staff Union v. Union of India & Ors.]..A Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice VG Bisht was frustrated that the Central government had been delaying appointment of officers in various tribunals causing inconvenience to the litigants."Who is to provide officers to the tribunals? Look at the plight of the litigants. The situation in Central Government Industrial Tribunal (CGIT) is just like Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRAT) then," CJ Datta said.He further stated that tribunals were being rendered moot since remedy provided by law was becoming fruitless owing to the Centre’s failure to fill vacancies."Law provides a remedy and the remedy is rendered futile because of you (centre). Why keep these tribunals (at all)," he demanded. .The Court was hearing a plea concerning 131 housekeeping peons of the Canara Bank who had approached the CGIT over a dispute with the bank.The issue could not be pursued before the tribunal since the office of presiding officer was lying vacant. Meanwhile, five of the employees were removed from service and the remaining 126 apprehended a similar fate.They then approached then High Court through Advocate Bhavesh Parmar praying for an interim relief to protect them until the tribunal is functional pointing out that there no other remedy was available to them..After being called upon by the Court, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh apprised the Bench of the progress of the selection committee to select a suitable presiding officer.Reading note submitted by the ASG, the Bench deduced that there was no likelihood of a presiding officer being appointed till end of June."Names are shortlisted, but these are not getting selected before July. The interview and processing will take time. Same thing which was happening for DRAT is happening here, where will they go? Is there any provision where the Industrial Tribunal Act provides for a contingency? Once we entertain one matter and pass an order, everyone will start coming," it remarked.The Union government opposed the prayer for interim relief contending that instead the Court may await the tribunal to start functioning.However, keeping in mind that the tribunal may not be functional until the month of July, the court granted interim relief.It directed the bank not to remove any 'casual housekeeping peons' from employment till the vacancy in CGIT is filled."131 workmen cannot be made to suffer because tribunal is non-functional. We entertain the petition and direct the Bank to not dispense with 126 workmen till end of July 2022, or until the tribunal resumes, whichever is earlier," the order stated.It added that if a presiding officer is appointed prior to July, the authority would be permitted to move the court for vacating the stay order..This is not the first time that CJ Dutta had expressed his displeasure at the manner of filling vacancies by the Central government.He was disgruntled by the lack of seriousness by the Centre to appoint chairpersons to Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT) lying vacant since long..He also bemoaned in open court about the vacancy position in the chartered High Court and the strain of workload on other judges due to the same.The Supreme Court has also been critical of the Central government's failure to fill vacancies in tribunals. A Bench headed by CJI Ramana has been frequently pulling up the government for its lackadaisical approach towards tribunals.Also contributing to the friction, is the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 passed by the parliament laying down the tenures and other service conditions of tribunal members.Many of the provisions of the Act run contrary to the mandate of the Supreme Court judgment regarding tenures of service of tribunal members.The Supreme Court had on July 14 struck down the newly inserted Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017 as amended by the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 (Ordinance) to the extent that it fixed the tenure of members and chairperson of tribunals at 4 years.