Parliament has passed the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026, with the Rajya Sabha approving on Tuesday the 11th of August 2026.
Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.
When the House met at 2:00 PM after the second adjournment of the day, Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the all-important legislation.
The bill aims to improve efficiency, ensure independence, transparency, and uniformity in the qualifications, appointment, and service of Chairpersons and Members of various Tribunals, as well as the administration and functioning of the Tribunals.
The legislation also proposes to establish a National Tribunals Commission.
Replying to discussion on the bill, Meghwal said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government initiated the process of rationalisation of tribunals in 2015.
He said, the Tribunal Reforms Bill, 2026 has been brought to establish a modern, independent, and uniform tribunal ecosystem.
The Law Minister also highlighted that the bill is aimed at strengthening governance, institutional independence, transparency, and efficiency.
The Minister said, the new bill has a provision to establish the National Tribunals Commission it will be chaired by a former Judge of the Supreme Court or a former Chief Justice of a High Court.
Meghwal said that this reform is an important milestone towards promoting ease of justice, ease of doing business and the adoption of global best practices.
The Minister said, it will further strengthen India’s legal and institutional architecture and advance the government’s collective commitment to ensuring accessible, timely and speedy justice.
Earlier, participating in the bill, Subhash Barala of BJP supported the bill, saying that the bill is not only intended to bring changes in the administrative functioning of the tribunals but also intended to ensure fair and speedy justice.
He said, the reforms that took place in the country in the last 11 years will also get a boost through this legislation.
The BJP MP also informed that once the legislation becomes an Act, the tribunal system will be further strengthened and speedy resolution of disputes will be ensured.
Dr Sasmit Patra of BJD supported the bill saying that the tribunal reform is not about administrative reform alone as it is a question of judicial architecture.
He urged the government to include the National Company Law Tribunal into this legislation apart from the 16 tribunals as this will help strengthen the adjudication fabric of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Tiruchi Siva of DMK said the Bill seeks to repeal and replace the Tribunals Reforms Act 2021.
He said that the government has brought this new bill because certain provision of this Act was struck down by the Supreme Court.
The DMK MP said the legislation proposes to establish a National Tribunals Commission.
Mahesh Kewat of the ruling party said that this bill is a historic and revolutionary step towards making the country’s justice system more streamlined, transparent, speedy and accountable.
He said, the basic objective behind the establishment of tribunals was to ensure that disputes in specialised areas such as taxation, environment, labour and administrative matters could be resolved expeditiously.
Besides other members including S Reddy of YSRCP, I. S Inbadurai of AIADMK, Rajendra Hiralal Jain of NCP and Bhashyam Rama Krishna of TDP also participated in the discussion.
After passing the bill, the House took up special mention in which various members raised the issues of public importance.
The Chair adjourned the House for the day after completing its business to meet again at 11:00 AM tomorrow.
