'As per Centre, vacancies in tribunals filled up except for NGT, CAT, AFTs'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday said Attorney General K K Venugopal has circulated a note stating that vacancies in most of the Tribunals have been filled except for the National Green Tribunal, Central Administrative Tribunal and some Armed Force Tribunals (AFTs).

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli said the AG has mentioned that some appointments to AFTs and CAT are pending with the selection committee headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar.

The apex court made the remarks after senior advocate Arvind Datar mentioned for urgent listing of a plea pertaining to filling of vacancies in the tribunals and challenge to new Tribunal Reforms Act.

CJI Ramana said, Last time, Justice Rao's bench had passed the judgement in the matter and they had not honoured the verdict and had immediately come out with a similar Act .

Datar submitted that after the top court's verdict in the Madras Bar Association case, the minimum age bar of 50 years in the Tribunals Reforms Act had been struck down.

He said several eligible advocates below the age of 50 years are not considered even after the court had said that the age bar of 50 years cannot be applied and such a distinction cannot

be made.

He said the court had directed that the tenure of members should be fixed as five years, and age of 67 or 70 years, but the Centre is making appointments saying it will be four years and 67 or 70 years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

This, 'until further orders', should be deleted from the appointment letters. Once the selection committee headed by a Supreme Court judge has cleared the name, the government has no say in the appointment, he added.

Datar said the Centre maintains that its legislation is supreme and what is shocking is that after the Supreme Court struck down various conditions of appointment in the ordinance; they brought identical provisions in the Act.

The bench said the matter would be listed for hearing on March 24.

On September 6 last year, the top court had termed the provisions in new law on tribunals replica of those struck down earlier.

It had told the Centre that though the government has the power to take away the basis of a judgement by making new laws, they cannot be directly contradictory to its verdicts.