Don't allow tribunal orders be challenged directly in SC: Law

Seeking to reduce the burden of mounting cases on the apex court, the Law Commission has recommended that orders of various central tribunals should not be challenged in the Supreme Court directly.
In its latest report on functioning of tribunals, the law panel has said that orders of central tribunals should be challenged before the division bench of a high court.
Thousands of tribunal orders, mostly related to service issues, are challenged before higher courts either by employees or the government, leading to increased court burden.
The law panel has finalised its report and is set to submit it to the government in the next two days, a functionary said today.

The mounting pendency of appeals in the apex court had made it refer the matter to the Law Commission.
Referring to the hierarchy of the high courts with regard to the tribunals, the law panel has said the tribunals "are not substitutes but supplemental in nature."
The panel has also recommended a fixed three-year term for tribunal chairpersons who are mostly judges of the Supreme Court or the high courts.
It has also said that domain experts can be part of the tribunals for a much longer period.