Patna: Patna High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon, said tribunals had failed to provide speedy justice. He was addressing the second national conference of state tribunals in India in Patna on Saturday,

"While attending the first national conference last year in Bangalore, various steps were formulated to improve working of tribunals across India," Chief Justice Menon said. "But unfortunately the same has not been achieved."

"Tribunals were created through the 42nd amendment to the Constitution and its main purpose was to aid the judiciary in providing speedy justice. Tribunals were coined as the main paramount important institute for justice delivery system and upholding democratic norms. However, time has now come, when we have to analyse whether it (tribunals) has achieved its goal and fulfilled its obligations. We are tempted to say that it has not given the desired result."

Menon added: "What was required was that the justice delivery system reaches the last man of the country. However, he (last man) was not reached up to."

"Initially, I thought I would formally inaugurate this conference and just highlight the basic features of tribunals but after hearing former Supreme Court judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan who is also currently the chairman of the Law Commission of India, I am persuaded to divert from my original thinking," said Menon and added: "In 2016, the Supreme Court in the case of Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam, had said the Law Commission should study the working methods of tribunals and a report was submitted to this effect by the Law Commission of India, to which I was privy. If you go through the report, consistent recommendations were made to improve the functioning of the tribunals so that the purpose for which tribunals were created was achieved. However, the same has not been done."

Here, I would like to share my experience of 21 years as a lawyer and 16 years as a judge of high court, the chief justice said, adding: "The pendency of cases is a huge concern before the tribunals. Again the point comes - have tribunals achieved the goal in adhering to the basic delivery of natural justice? No and there are various reasons for its failure. Why tribunals failed? Because, a system works only if the person appointed to the task is suitable. The competence of person manning the tribunal is of paramount importance. This has not been achieved as we saw police officers being appointed to the tribunals which undermined its aim."