THE UNENDING TUSSLE: SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN TRIBUNAL REFORMS ACT, 2021 IN DEFENCE OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE

In a landmark judgment delivered on November 19, 2025, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran struck down the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 (the "Impugned Act") as unconstitutional.

- Adv Sherry Samuel Oommen: This article is authored by Adv Sherry Samuel Oommen. He specialises in the Constitution, tax and corporate laws and has also cleared the final exams of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He has also completed his Masters's Degree in Commerce, apart from obtaining a Post Graduate Diploma in Business and Corporate Laws from Symbiosis, Pune. The views expressly are personal and should not be construed as a legal opinion. [e-mail].

Introduction

The case of Madras Bar Association v. Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 2498, represents the latest, and perhaps most definitive, chapter in a protracted constitutional dialogue spanning over three decades concerning the independence, structure, and functioning of tribunals in India.

The Court's decision reaffirms a foundational principle of Indian constitutionalism: the supremacy of the Constitution over all organs of the State. The judgment is a stern reprimand to the legislature for its repeated attempts to nullify judicial directives through legislative reenactment, a practice the Court condemned as an "impermissible legislative override." Justice Chandran's pithy concurring opinion— "old wine in a new bottle, the wine whets not the judicial palette, but the bottle merely dazzle"—perfectly encapsulates the Court's view of the Impugned Act as a mere repackaging of provisions previously declared unconstitutional.

This article delves into the background of the case, the contentions of the parties, the Court's detailed reasoning, and the profound implications of this judgment for the doctrine of separation of powers and the rule of law in India.

The Backdrop: A Long Line of Jurisprudence