Unsettled designs: India's regulators, tribunals need deeper reform

Supreme Court's recent judgment continues a three-decade cycle of invalidations; a regulatory reset is overdue

The Supreme Court’s judgment of November 19, striking down key provisions of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021, is the latest episode in a long-running cycle. For three decades, the Court has repeatedly held that certain institutional arrangements violate constitutional requirements. The legislature has responded, often with marginally altered provisions, only for the Court to find the changes inadequate and invalidate them again.

 

The cycle seems unending. Judicial primacy lasts only until the next legislative intervention, and legislative primacy endures only until the next judicial reckoning, each time set in motion and defended by the executive.