NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc.: Political Science Study Material Supreme Court Judgement

Get top class preparation for competitive exams right from your home: get questions, notes, tests, video lectures and more- for all subjects of your exam.

Supreme Court Judgement on Administrative Tribunals

In March, 1997, a seven judge Supreme Court bench gave a landmark judgement on the administrative and other tribunals dealing with FERA, tax violations and other cases. The Court declared unconstitutional:

  • Section 2D of Art. 332A and Section 3D of Art. 323 B, which excluded the jurisdiction of High Courts and Supreme Court, as judicial review is a part of the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution
  • Section 28 of the Administrative Tribunals Act for the same reason.

Verdict Features

The important features of the verdict are

  • appeals can be made to the division bench of the High Courts on the validity of the rulings of the tribunals before approaching the Supreme Court.
  • tribunals including the administrative tribunals are competent to hear cases questioning the validity of relevant legislation.
  • when the validity of a law questioning the setting up of a tribunal js to be heard, it can be taken up only in a High Court and not in another tribunal.
  • the tribunals are՚specialist bodies in that they are constituted of trained administrators and also those with judicial experience.
  • supervision of the tribunals is to be done by a body belonging to the law ministry at both the federal and state levels.