Do you intend to close tribunals, SC asks Centre

CJI reads out in open court details of over 200 vacancies in key tribunals, making them redundant in their slow death

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central government point-blank to come clean on whether it intends to “close” tribunals across the country by not filling up vacancies that have been pending for years. “The question here is whether you really want these tribunals to continue or do you intend to close them... Is it that the bureaucracy does not want these tribunals?” Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. Justice Surya Kant, on the Bench, pointed out that with tribunals defunct and High Courts having no jurisdiction over the areas of law wielded by tribunals, litigants have nowhere to go for justice.