India, Aug. 12 -- The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026, recently passed by the Lok Sabha, should be judged not by the shortcomings of earlier experiments but by whether it has learnt from them. On vacancies, independence and accountability, it makes a serious attempt to do precisely that.

The Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha, is best understood against the unsettled history of tribunal reform. Its Statement of Objects and Reasons traces that history from the rationalisation exercise that began in 2015, through the Finance Act, 2017, the 2021 Ordinance and finally the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021. But the significance of the 2026 Bill lies in what happened thereafter.

In Madras Bar Association v. Union of India (2025), the Supreme Court (SC) hel...