Specialised tribunals and quasi-judicial fora

Detail

What these bodies are

• A tribunal is a body set up by law to decide disputes in one special field, such as the environment, company law, tax or service matters. Its members include judges and also technical or expert members.
• A quasi-judicial body is not a regular court, but it decides disputes in a court-like way. It hears both sides, follows natural justice and passes binding orders. Consumer commissions are an example.
• Constitutional base:
• The 42nd Amendment (1976) added Art. 323A (tribunals for public-service matters) and Art. 323B (tribunals for other subjects, such as tax, industrial disputes, land reform and elections).

• Most of the bodies below were set up by ordinary Acts of Parliament.

• Why they exist:

• Regular courts are overloaded.
• Technical disputes need experts.
• Specialist bodies can decide cases faster.

National Green Tribunal (NGT)

• Law and date: The NGT Act 2010 created the tribunal, which was set up on 18 October 2010.
• Roots:
• Art. 21 (right to life, which courts read to include the right to a healthy environment).
• Art. 48A (a Directive Principle: the State shall protect and improve the environment).
• India's commitments at the Rio Earth Summit (1992) to give people effective judicial remedies for environmental harm.
• The Supreme Court's call for specialist environmental courts in A.P. Pollution Control Board v. M.V. Nayudu (1999).

• The Law Commission's 186th Report (2003), which recommended environmental courts.

• Benches: The principal bench is at New Delhi. Zonal benches sit at Kolkata, Bhopal, Chennai and Pune [2].

• The Central Government decides where the benches sit and which area each bench covers [2].

• Composition:

• The Chairperson must be a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court.

• The other members are judicial members (people with legal or judicial experience) and expert members (scientists or people with environmental administration experience).

• Jurisdiction: The NGT hears all civil cases where a substantial question relating to the environment arises. This includes enforcing any legal right linked to the environment [2].

• These cases must arise under the seven Acts in Schedule I:
  1. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974
  2. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act 1977
  3. Forest (Conservation) Act 1980
  4. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981
  5. Environment (Protection) Act 1986
  6. Public Liability Insurance Act 1991
  7. Biological Diversity Act 2002
• Not covered: the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and the Forest Rights Act 2006. This is a common MCQ trap.
• Appellate jurisdiction: For example, the NGT hears appeals against orders of the appellate authority under s.28 of the Water Act 1974 [2].

• Once the NGT was set up, civil courts lost the power to hear appeals on matters that the NGT can decide [2].

• Principles it applies:

• Polluter-pays principle: whoever causes pollution pays to repair the damage and to compensate victims.
• Precautionary principle: if there is a risk of serious harm, act to prevent it even before science is fully certain.

• Sustainable development: growth that does not harm the needs of future generations.

• Speed: The NGT aims to decide cases within six months of filing.

• Appeal: An appeal against an NGT order lies to the Supreme Court within 90 days.
• Suo motu power: Suo motu means the tribunal acts on its own, without anyone filing a case. The Supreme Court upheld this power in Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai v. Ankita Sinha (2021).
• Issues:
• Many posts on its benches stay vacant.
• Its orders are often not followed on the ground.
• Critics say it sometimes goes beyond its role and makes policy, for example by imposing large fines or bans (see judicial overreach, judiciary §11).

Corporate, financial and tax tribunals

Body	Law	Hears	Appeal goes to
NCLT	Companies Act 2013; constituted June 2016	Company law disputes; corporate insolvency under IBC 2016	NCLAT
NCLAT	Companies Act 2013	Appeals from NCLT, IBBI, CCI (since 2017), NFRA	Supreme Court
DRT / DRAT	RDB Act 1993	Bank and financial-institution claims of ₹20 lakh or more; SARFAESI appeals	DRAT, then High Court (writ)
SAT	SEBI Act 1992	Appeals against SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA orders	Supreme Court
ITAT	Set up 1941	Direct-tax (income tax) appeals	High Court (only on a substantial question of law)
CESTAT	Customs and excise laws	Customs, central excise and service-tax appeals	High Court or Supreme Court
GSTAT	CGST Act 2017, s.109	GST appeals	High Court or Supreme Court

• National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT): a tribunal for company disputes, such as oppression of shareholders, mismanagement, mergers and winding up.
• It replaced three older bodies: the Company Law Board, the BIFR (Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction) and the AAIFR (its appellate authority).

• It is the adjudicating authority for corporate insolvency under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016. This means it admits insolvency cases against companies and approves resolution plans.

• National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT): the appeal tribunal above the NCLT. It also hears appeals from:

• the IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India);
• the CCI (Competition Commission of India), since 2017, when it replaced the COMPAT (Competition Appellate Tribunal);
• the NFRA (National Financial Reporting Authority, which regulates auditors).

• A further appeal lies to the Supreme Court.

• Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT): a tribunal that helps banks and financial institutions recover unpaid loans quickly.

• It is set up under the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy (RDB) Act 1993, originally named the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act.
• It hears claims of ₹20 lakh or more [6].
• Borrowers can also go to the DRT to challenge action that a bank takes under the SARFAESI Act 2002. This Act lets banks seize the security for a bad loan without going to court.
• The Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act 2016 amended both the RDB Act and the SARFAESI Act to speed up cases [7].
• After the 2016 changes, a case can be filed in the DRT for the area where:
  • the cause of action arose;
  • the security is located; or
  • the bank branch holding the debt is located [8].

• Appeals from a DRT go to the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT).

• Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT): set up under the SEBI Act 1992. It hears appeals against orders of:

• SEBI (securities markets);
• IRDAI (insurance);

• PFRDA (pensions).

• Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT): set up in 1941, it is India's oldest tribunal.

• It is the final fact-finding body in direct-tax cases. Above it, the High Court looks only at questions of law, not at the facts.

• CESTAT (Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal): hears indirect-tax appeals under the older customs, excise and service-tax laws.

• It marked 40 years of work in 2023 [9].

• GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT): the second-appeal forum for GST disputes, provided for in s.109 of the CGST Act 2017.

• The Union Cabinet approved a National Bench for it [10].
• Justice (Retd.) Sanjaya Kumar Mishra took oath as its first President [11].
• The Union Finance Minister formally launched GSTAT in New Delhi in 2025 [3].
• Structure: It has a principal bench in New Delhi and 31 State Benches at 45 locations [3].
• Each bench has four members [3]:
  • two Judicial Members;
  • one Technical Member (Centre);
  • one Technical Member (State).
• The Chennai Bench began working on 22 January 2026, when its members took charge [4].
• (NCERT-derived note: it "began work only in 2025".)

Service and consumer fora

• Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT):
• Law and start: It was set up under the AFT Act 2007 and started working in August 2009.
• What it hears:
  • service disputes of Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, such as pay, promotion, pension and discipline;
  • appeals against court-martial decisions (verdicts of military courts).

• Appeal: A further appeal goes to the Supreme Court.

• Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions: three-tier quasi-judicial bodies under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) 2019. They handle complaints about defective goods and poor services.

• The limits depend on the value paid for the goods or services, as set by the 2021 jurisdiction rules:

Tier	Pecuniary limit (2021 rules)	Appeal to
District Commission	Up to ₹50 lakh	State Commission
State Commission	Above ₹50 lakh up to ₹2 crore	National Commission
National Commission (NCDRC)	Above ₹2 crore	Supreme Court

• See also the economics subject's note on consumer protection.

• Other tribunals to know by name:

• TDSAT: telecom disputes.
• APTEL: electricity appeals.
• Railway Claims Tribunal: claims for loss of goods or for accidents on the railways.
• Industrial tribunals and labour courts: disputes between workers and employers.
• RERA Appellate Tribunals: real-estate disputes.

Common problems

• Vacancies:
• Many member posts stay empty for long periods.

• Cases pile up, and benches sometimes cannot sit at all.

• Uneven quality:

• Technical members may lack judicial training.

• The quality of orders differs from one tribunal to another.

• Parallel hierarchies:

• Tribunals form a separate system next to the regular courts.

• Ministries that are often parties to the cases also control appointments and funding. This raises questions about the tribunals' independence.

• Bypassing High Courts:

• Many laws send appeals directly to the Supreme Court. Examples are NGT, NCLAT, SAT and AFT appeals.
• This crowds the Supreme Court with routine cases.
• It also keeps High Courts out of the chain of appeal and makes justice costlier and harder to reach for people far from Delhi.

Prelims Hooks

• NGT Act 2010 covers 7 Acts in Schedule I. It does not cover the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 or the Forest Rights Act 2006.
• NGT zonal benches: Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai. The principal bench is in New Delhi.
• NGT appeal goes to the Supreme Court within 90 days. NGT's suo motu power was upheld in Ankita Sinha (2021).
• Oldest tribunal in India: the ITAT (1941), not the NCLT or CESTAT.
• NCLAT replaced COMPAT in 2017 and hears CCI appeals. It also hears appeals from the IBBI and NFRA.
• SAT hears appeals against SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, but not the RBI.
• DRT threshold is ₹20 lakh under the RDB Act 1993. Its appeal tribunal is the DRAT.
• GSTAT comes from s.109 of the CGST Act 2017. Each bench has 2 judicial and 2 technical members (one from the Centre, one from the State).
• Arts. 323A and 323B were inserted by the 42nd Amendment (1976). Art. 323A covers service matters; Art. 323B covers other subjects.
• Consumer Commission limits (2021 rules): District up to ₹50 lakh; State up to ₹2 crore; National above ₹2 crore.

Mains Points

• For tribunals:
• They bring expert knowledge to technical areas such as the environment, insolvency and securities.
• They lighten the load on regular courts.

• The NGT's use of the polluter-pays and precautionary principles has built up Indian environmental law.

• Against, or what weakens them:

• Vacancies, executive control over appointments and service terms, and short tenures weaken their independence and their efficiency.

• Such tribunals may become an extension of the ministries whose orders they are meant to review.

• Bypassing High Courts:

• Direct appeals to the Supreme Court go against the idea in L. Chandra Kumar (1997). In that case, the Supreme Court held that High Court judicial review is part of the basic structure (the core features of the Constitution that even Parliament cannot destroy).

• A National Tribunals Commission has been proposed to take charge of appointments, funding and administration. This would make tribunals more uniform and more independent.

• NGT and overreach:

• Its activism fills gaps where the government fails to enforce environmental law.
• But broad bans and suo motu cases raise separation-of-powers concerns (each branch of government keeping to its own role).
• Compliance can improve through stronger enforcement by pollution control boards, not through more orders.