Lok Sabha Question No. 5022 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-01
Subject: Vacancies in Tribunals
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Thirumaa Valavan Thol

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5022

## TO BE ANSWERED ONFRIDAY, THE1 ST  APRIL, 2022

## Vacancies in Tribunals

## 5022. SHRI THIRUMAAVALAVAN THOL:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICEbe pleased to state:

- a. whether vacancies in Tribunals/Appellate Tribunals have not been filled up;
- b. if so, the number of Tribunals and the number of vacancies along with the time from which these posts are lying vacant; and
- c. the reasons for not filling up the vacancies?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a) to  (c):The  filling  up  of  vacancies  in  Tribunals/Appellate  Tribunals  is  a  continuous exercise. Information as received in respect of 12 Tribunals from 9 Ministries/Departments is placed as Annexures as per table below:

|   Sl. No. | Name of Ministry/Department                            | Name of the Tribunal/Appellate Tribunal                                                  | Annexure   |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|
|         1 | Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice | Income Tax Appellate Tribunal                                                            | I          |
|         2 | Ministry of Coporate Affairs                           | National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) | II         |
|         3 | Department of Personnel & Training                     | Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)                                                    | III        |
|         4 | Ministry of Environment, Forest &Climate Change        | National Green Tribunal (NGT)                                                            | IV         |
|         5 | Ministry of Railways                                   | Railway Claims Tribunal                                                                  | V          |

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|   6 | Department of Revenue                      | Central Excise &Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and Appellate Tribunal (SAFEMA)   | VI   |
|-----|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
|   7 | Department of Financial Services           | Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT)                  | VII  |
|   8 | Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence | Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT)                                                               | VIII |
|   9 | Department of Telecommunications           | Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)                                | IX   |

## Department of Legal Affairs {Income Tax Appellate Tribunal}:

(a) to  (c): The  ITAT  consists  of  63  Benches.  For  63  Benches  spread  over  30  stations (including  02  Circuit  Benches)  throughout  the  country,    present  sanctioned  strength  of Members is 126 including one (01) President and ten (10) Zonal Vice-Presidents. Filling of vacancies  is  a  continuous  process.    Recently,  Government  has  filled  21  vacancies  of Accountant/Judicial Members in the said Tribunal.  The present position of sanctioned, filled up and vacant post as on date is as under:-

| Sr.No.   | Posts             | Sanctioned   | Filled up   |   Vacant |
|----------|-------------------|--------------|-------------|----------|
| 1        | Accountant Member | 63           | 43*         |       20 |
| 2        | Judicial Member   | 63           | 47^         |       16 |
|          | TOTAL             | 126**        | 90          |       36 |

The process of filling up of the post of President, ITAT on regular basis has been initiated. The said post fell vacant on retirement of regular President on 05.09.2021.

## Annexure-I

## Ministry of Coporate Affairs (National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT):

(a) & (b): Vacancy position of Members in NCLT and NCLAT, as on date, is as follows:

| Name of Tribunal   | Number of Vacancies                           | Posts vacant since                        | Posts vacant since          |
|--------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| NCLT               | Total-15                                      | Judicial Member                           | Technical member            |
| NCLAT              | Total- 5 Judicial Member- 3 Technical member- | Judicial Member                           | Technical member            |
| NCLAT              | 2                                             | 1. 19/04/2021 2. 11/09/2021 3. 23/01/2022 | 1. 01/07/2021 2. 21/02/2022 |

(c): Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process and the vacant posts are being filled from time to  time.  Regarding  the  present  vacancies  in  NCLT  and  NCLAT,  the  process  of filling  up  of  posts  is  under  way  and  the  applications  have  been  obtained  which  are  under consideration of the respective Selection Committee and Search-cum-Selection Committee.

## Department of Personnel & Training (Central Administrative Tribunal):

(a) & (b): There are 19 regular benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) across the country. The total sanctioned strength of Members including 01 post of Chairman is 70. As on date, out of 70 sanctioned posts, 33 posts are filled up and 37 posts are lying vacant. The details of vacancies in CAT as on date are as under:

|   Sl.No. | Description                 | Judicial Member   |   Administrative Member |   Total |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------|-------------------------|---------|
|        1 | Sanctioned Strength Members | 34+01*            |                      35 |      70 |
|        2 | Total vacancies             | 18*               |                      19 |      37 |

*01 vacancy of Chairman: the post of Chairman is shown in the Judicial stream as the last incumbent was from the Judicial stream. It could be either a Judicial or an Administrative Member as per the Rules, 2021.

(c): The reason for these vacancies is that the vacancies for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 could  not  be  filled  up  due  to  the  ongoing  litigations  in  various  High  Courts  and  Supreme Court with regard to the rules governing the conditions of service of Chairman/ Members of Tribunals.  However, now after the issuance of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 and framing of Rules there-under, the process of making selection of Members of CAT has begun with the constitution  of  a  high-powered  Search-cum-Selection  Committee  with  the  nomination  of  a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court as its Chairman, and other members .

## Annexure-IV

## Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (National Green Tribunal):

(a)  to  (c): At  present,  there  is  no  vacancy  for  Chairperson.  Five  (05)  posts  of  Judicial Members are vacant in the NGT. However, DoPT, vide their Letter No. 9/5/2022-EO(SM.II) dated 10.03.2022 had communicated the approval of the ACC for appointment of five (05) candidates to the posts of Judicial Members. The Ministry has issued offer letters  to all the five candidates on 21.03.2022. Further, four (04) posts of Expert Members are vacant in the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The Government is in the process for filling up the vacant posts of Expert Members. The vacancies of Judicial and Expert Members in the NGT are due to  completion  of  tenure  of  the  Hon'ble  Members  and  resignation  tendered  by  the  Hon'ble Members.  The  Ministry  endeavors  to  take  necessary  action  well  in  advance  to  fill  up  the vacancies likely to arise for appointment of Judicial and Expert Members in the NGT.

## Ministry of Railways (Railway Claims Tribunal):

- a. Yes
2. b . The  details  of  posts  of  Chairman,  Vice-Chairman,  Member  (Judicial)  and  Member (Technical) lying vacant in the Benches of Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT):-

## Position of Vice-Chairman:

|   S. No. | Name of the Bench   | Name of the Post      | Date from which post is vacant   |
|----------|---------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------|
|        1 | Allahabad           | Vice-Chairman (Tech.) | 13.09.2019                       |
|        2 | Kolkata             | Vice-Chairman (Tech.) | 22.08.2021                       |
|        3 | Mumbai              | Vice-Chairman (Judl.) | 28.04.2020                       |
|        4 | Secunderabad        | Vice-Chairman (Judl.) | 05.06.2020                       |

## Position of Member (Judl.)

|   S. No. | Name of the Bench   | Name of the Post   | Date from which post is vacant   |
|----------|---------------------|--------------------|----------------------------------|
|        1 | Delhi               | Member (Judl.)     | 16.06.2020                       |
|        2 | Lucknow             | Member (Judl.)     | 04.05.2020                       |
|        3 | Gorakhpur           | Member (Judl.)     | 01.05.2019                       |
|        4 | Chandigarh*         | Member (Judl.)     | 01.10.2021                       |
|        5 | Kolkata             | Member (Judl.)     | 10.06.2019                       |
|        6 | Bhubaneswar         | Member (Judl.)     | 27.10.2015                       |
|        7 | Guwahati**          | Member (Judl.)     | 01.01.2022                       |
|        8 | Guwahati**          | Member (Judl.)     | 31.03.2017                       |
|        9 | Ranchi              | Member (Judl.)     | 23.01.2018                       |
|       10 | Mumbai              | Member (Judl.)     | 23.08.2017                       |
|       11 | Bhopal***           | Member (Judl.)     | 26.06.2021                       |
|       12 | Jaipur****          | Member (Judl.)     | 18.09.2021                       |
|       13 | Nagpur              | Member (Judl.)     | 07.04.2018                       |
|       14 | Bangalore           | Member (Judl.)     | 01.06.2019                       |
|       15 | Chennai             | Member (Judl.)     | 29.08.2018                       |
|       16 | Ernakulam           | Member (Judl.)     | 12.07.2019                       |

## Position of Member (Tech.)

|   S. No. | Name of the Bench   | Name of the Post   | Date from which post is vacant   |
|----------|---------------------|--------------------|----------------------------------|
|        1 | Ranchi              | Member (Tech.)     | 18.09.2021                       |
|        2 | Ahmedabad           | Member (Tech.)     | 16.12.2020                       |
|        3 | Nagpur              | Member (Tech.)     | 19.02.2021                       |
|        4 | Bangalore           | Member (Tech.)     | 10.09.2021                       |
|        5 | Chennai             | Member (Tech.)     | 09.09.2021                       |
|        6 | Ernakulam           | Member (Tech.)     | 11.12.2014                       |
|        7 | Amravati            | Member (Tech.)     | 07.09.2020                       |

## Annexure-V

| Name of the Post       |   Sanctioned Strength |   Working |   Vacant |
|------------------------|-----------------------|-----------|----------|
| Chairman               |                     1 |         1 |        0 |
| Vice- Chairman (Judl.) |                     2 |         0 |        2 |
| Vice- Chairman (Tech.) |                     2 |         0 |        2 |
| Member (Judl.)         |                    20 |         4 |       16 |
| Member (Tech.)         |                    21 |        14 |        7 |
| Total                  |                    46 |        19 |       27 |

## NOTE:-

- *The post was vacant at RCT, Chandigarh from 20.04.2020. Sh.  Labh Singh, Member (J) joined on 27.09.2021 at RCT, Chandigarh and further transferred to RCT, Guwahati.
- **One  post  of  Member  (J)  is  vacant  at  RCT,  Guwahati  since  creation  of  second  Bench. Another post was vacant since 22.04.2020. Sh. Labh Singh, Member (J) joined on 11.10.2021 at RCT, Guwahati and he was further transferred to RCT, Allahabad.
- ***  The  post  of  Member  (J)  was  vacant  at  Bhopal  from  05.11.2018.  Sh.  Vijayant  Singh, Member  (J)  joined  at  RCT,  Bhopal  on  24.06.2021  and  further  transferred  to  RCT, Ahmedabad.
- ****The post of Member (J) was vacant at RCT, Jaipur from 07.10.2018.  Sh. Umesh Kumar Sharma, Member (J) joined at RCT, Jaipur on 09.07.2021 and further transferred to RCT, Patna.

## c . Reasons for not filling up of vacancies in Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT):-

The  vacancy  notices  for  various  posts  of  Vice-Chairmen  (Judicial  as  well  as Technical) and Members (Judicial as well as Technical) arising up to December, 2020 were issued in May, 2020.  However, the Madras Bar Association again challenged the provisions of  the  Tribunal,  Appellate  Tribunal  and  other  Authorities  (Qualifications,  Experience  and other  Conditions  of  Service  of  Members)  Rules,  2020.    Hon'ble  Supreme  Court,  in  its judgement dated 27 th November, 2020 in the matter of Madras Bar Association vs. Union of India &Anrs. (2020) SC online SC 962 {WP (C) No. 804/2020} upheld the validity of Rules 2020 with certain modifications in eligibility criteria and service conditions due to which the vacancy notices issued for various posts of Vice-Chairmen & Members became infructuous.

The  Tribunal  Reforms  Act,  2021replacing  2021  Ordinance  came  into  effect  on 13/08/2021.  On the basis of it, Tribunal (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2021 was notified on 15/09/2021 detailing eligibility criteria and service conditions.

In  view  of  this,  vacancy  notices  for  02  posts  each  of  Vice-Chairman  (Judicial)  & Vice-Chairman (Technical), 16 posts of Judicial Member and 07 posts of Technical Member were notified on 18/09/2021. The Search-cum-Selection Committee  has also been constituted to conduct selection for these vacancies.

## Department of Revenue {Central Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and Appellate Tribunal (SAFEMA)}:

- a. Yes
- b. Details of vacancies of Chairman/Members is as under:
3. c . The rules governing the terms & Service conditions of Chairman & Members were under challenge before the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Presently, the Selection process of the Chairman & Members have been initiated consequent to the enactment of Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 & Notification of new Tribunal Rules.

| CESTAT                      | CESTAT                      | CESTAT                      | CESTAT                                                          |
|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                     | Name of the Bench           | Vacant posts Members        | Date from which posts are lying vacant                          |
| 1                           | CESTAT, New Delhi           | 4                           | M(J)-29.09.2017 M(T)-07.07.2015 M(T)-10.01.2020 M(T)-28.11.2020 |
| 2                           | CESTAT, Mumbai              | 2                           | M(J)-15.12.2017 M(J)-07.05.2021                                 |
| 3                           | CESTAT, Kolkata             | 1                           | M(T)-13.05.2019                                                 |
| 4                           | CESTAT, Chennai             | 2                           | M(T)-02.05.2019 M(J)-01.03.2016                                 |
| 5                           | CESTAT, Bangalore           | 4                           | M(J)-26.08.2021                                                 |
| 6                           | CESTAT, Ahmedabad           | 1                           | M(T)-17.07.2015                                                 |
| 7                           | CESTAT, Chandigarh          | 1                           | M(T)-01.10.2019                                                 |
| 8                           | CESTAT, Allahabad           | 2                           | M(T)-17.08.2020 M(J)-19.12.2020                                 |
|                             | Total                       | 17                          |                                                                 |
| Appellate Tribunal (SAFEMA) | Appellate Tribunal (SAFEMA) | Appellate Tribunal (SAFEMA) | Appellate Tribunal (SAFEMA)                                     |
| Sl. No.                     | Name of the posts           | Vacant posts                | Date from which posts are lying vacant                          |
| 1                           | Chairman                    | 1                           | 22.09.2019                                                      |
| 2                           | Member                      | 4                           | 01.09.2017 28.05.2018 26.08.2019 03.04.2021                     |
|                             | Total                       | 5                           |                                                                 |

## Department  of  Financial  Services  {Debt  Recovery  Tribunal  and  Debt  Recovery Appellate Tribunal}:

- (a) to (c): At present, out of the 5 sanctioned posts of Chairperson, all 5 posts are filled up. Further, out of 39 sanctioned posts of Presiding officer, 26 posts are filled up and remaining 13  are  lying  vacant.  However,  offer  of  appointments  have  already  been  issued  for  all  13 vacant posts to the selected candidates. The incumbency position of Presiding officers in 39 DRTs and Chairpersons in 5 DRATs is as under:

| Incumbency Position of Presiding officers in 39 DRTs and Chairpersons in 5 DRATs   | Incumbency Position of Presiding officers in 39 DRTs and Chairpersons in 5 DRATs   | Incumbency Position of Presiding officers in 39 DRTs and Chairpersons in 5 DRATs   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                             | Name of DRT                                                                        | Presiding officer                                                                  |
| 1                                                                                  | DRT-1, Ahmedabad                                                                   | vacant since 10.08.2021- offer issued                                              |
| 2                                                                                  | DRT-2, Ahmedabad                                                                   | Filled                                                                             |
| 3                                                                                  | DRT Allahabad                                                                      | Filled                                                                             |
| 4                                                                                  | DRT Aurangabad                                                                     | Filled                                                                             |
| 5                                                                                  | DRT-1,Bengaluru                                                                    | Filled                                                                             |
| 6                                                                                  | DRT-2,Bengaluru                                                                    | Filled                                                                             |
| 7                                                                                  | DRT-I, Chandigarh                                                                  | Filled                                                                             |
| 8                                                                                  | DRT-2, Chandigarh                                                                  | Filled                                                                             |
| 9                                                                                  | DRT-3, Chandigarh                                                                  | vacant since 23.02.2021-offer issued                                               |
| 10                                                                                 | DRT-1, Chennai                                                                     | vacant since 24.02.2021-offer issued                                               |
| 11                                                                                 | DRT-2, Chennai                                                                     | Filled                                                                             |
| 12                                                                                 | DRT-3, Chennai                                                                     | Filled                                                                             |
| 13                                                                                 | DRT Coimbatore                                                                     | Filled                                                                             |
| 14                                                                                 | DRT, Cuttack                                                                       | Filled                                                                             |
| 15                                                                                 | DRT-1, Delhi                                                                       | vacant since 07.01.2020-offer issued                                               |
| 16                                                                                 | DRT-2, Delhi                                                                       | vacant since 03.03.2021-offer issued                                               |
| 17                                                                                 | DRT-3, Delhi                                                                       | vacant since 01.01.2021-offer issued                                               |
| 18                                                                                 | DRT, Dehradun                                                                      | vacant since 19.02.2021-offer issued                                               |
| 19                                                                                 | DRT-1, Ernakulam                                                                   | Filled                                                                             |
| 20                                                                                 | DRT-2, Ernakulam                                                                   | Filled                                                                             |
| 21                                                                                 | DRT, Guwahati                                                                      | Filled                                                                             |
| 22                                                                                 | DRT-1, Hyderabad                                                                   | Filled                                                                             |
| 23                                                                                 | DRT-2, Hyderabad                                                                   | vacant since 20.10.2021-offer issued                                               |
| 24                                                                                 | DRT, Jabalpur                                                                      | Filled                                                                             |
| 25                                                                                 | DRT Jaipur                                                                         | Filled                                                                             |
| 26                                                                                 | DRT-1, Kolkata                                                                     | vacant since 12.12.2020-offer issued                                               |
| 27                                                                                 | DRT-2, Kolkata                                                                     | Filled                                                                             |
| 28                                                                                 | DRT-3, Kolkata                                                                     | Filled                                                                             |
| 29                                                                                 | DRT Lucknow                                                                        | Filled                                                                             |

| 30   | DRT, Madurai       | vacant since 20.10.2021-offer issued   |
|------|--------------------|----------------------------------------|
| 31   | DRT-1, Mumbai      | Filled                                 |
| 32   | DRT-2, Mumbai      | Filled                                 |
| 33   | DRT-3, Mumbai      | Filled                                 |
| 34   | DRT, Nagpur        | vacant since 13.02.2020-offer issued   |
| 35   | DRT, Patna         | vacant since 06.01.2020-offer issued   |
| 36   | DRT Pune           | Filled                                 |
| 37   | DRT, Ranchi        | Filled                                 |
| 38   | DRT, Siliguri      | vacant since 30.10.2021-offer issued   |
| 39   | DRT Vishakhapatnam | Filled                                 |
|      | Name of DRAT       |                                        |
|      |                    | Chairperson                            |
| 1    | Allahabad DRAT     | Filled                                 |
| 2    | Chennai DRAT       | Filled                                 |
| 3    | Delhi DRAT         | Filled                                 |
| 4    | Kolkata DRAT       | Filled                                 |
| 5    | Mumbai DRAT        | Filled                                 |

## Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence(Armed Forces Tribunal):

- (a) & (b): Out of the sanctioned strength of 34 Members (17 Judicial Members including Chairperson and 17 Administrative Members), 22 posts [10 posts of Judicial Member and 12 posts of Administrative Member] are lying vacant in AFT. Two Judicial Members are continuing by virtue of interim order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 09.12.2019. Further, Out of 559 sanctioned strength of officers/staff, 248 are lying vacant.

## Vacancy  position  of  Judicial  Members  in  the  Armed  Forces  Tribunal  as  on 22.03.2022

| Post             | Date of vacancy   |
|------------------|-------------------|
| Judicial Member  | 12.11.2018        |
| Judicial Member  | 20.01.2018        |
| Judicial Member  | 16.08.2019        |
| Judicial Member  | 07.07.2016        |
| Judicial Member  | 18.08.2019        |
| Judicial Member  | 09.06.2018        |
| Judicial Member  | 30.07.2016        |
| Judicial Member  | 20.05.2019        |
| Judicial Member  | 22.03.2018        |
| Judicial Member  | 17.10.2017        |
| Judicial Member* | -                 |
| Judicial Member* | -                 |

## Vacancy position of  Administrative  Members  in  the  Armed  Forces  Tribunal  as  on 22.03.2022

| Post                  | Date of vacancy   |
|-----------------------|-------------------|
| Administrative Member | 01.01.2021        |
| Administrative Member | 01.09.2021        |
| Administrative Member | 03.02.2018        |
| Administrative Member | 20.11.2019        |
| Administrative Member | 23.03.2018        |

| Administrative Member   | 23.08.2019   |
|-------------------------|--------------|
| Administrative Member   | 18.05.2019   |
| Administrative Member   | 30.12.2017   |
| Administrative Member   | 09.01.2021   |
| Administrative Member   | 26.06.2019   |
| Administrative Member   | 19.01.2019   |
| Administrative Member   | 14.02.2022   |

(c): The Ministry has been making constant endeavours in appointing Members in AFT. Recently, in September 2021, three new Judicial Members have taken charge in AFT.As regards  appointment of  officers  and  staff  in  AFT  is  concerned,  the  vacancies  have  been advertised as per existing RRs.  Efforts are also being made to fill the same.

## Annexure-IX

## Department  of  Telecommunications  (Telecom  Disputes  Settlement  and  Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT):

(a) to (c): As per Section 14B of the TRAI Act, TDSAT consists of one Chairperson and two  Members.  Post  of  Chairperson  and  one  Member  are  already  filled  up.  One  post  of Member  is vacant since 19.10.2019. Recommendations  of the Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC) for the said post are under finalization.