Supreme Court Seeks Data From Union On Tribunal Vacancies, Suggests Circuit Benches For AFT
Live LawThe Supreme Court today asked the Union of India to collate and furnish data on the status of appointments and selection process of judicial/technical/accounting/administrative members of Tribunals across the country. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh passed the order in a public interest litigation initiated by the Madras Bar Association, which was listed alongwith a petition raising the issue of vacancies, etc. While the Attorney General for India was asked to furnish "the current status of vacancies in different tribunals and the status and stages of the ongoing selection process, if any", the Court asked Senior Advocate Vikas Singh and other members of the Bar to give suggestions to the AG "for improving the working conditions of Tribunals, including an idea to be explored regarding constituting Circuit Benches so as to provide easy access to justice". In response, Justice Kant referred to a former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, who is now an AFT, Chandigarh member, as someone who would be well-versed with the situation.