Heads and members of Tribunals and Commissions across the country will now have a uniform tenure, allowances and age of retirement. The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal put forth by law Ministry to introduce uniformity in tenure, allowances and retirement age of chairpersons and members of various such panels across the country.

The ‘overarching’ legislation that aims to supersede 20 odd laws under which Tribunals were constituted fixes five-year tenure for Chairpersons and members. They will have varied retirement ages of 70 years for a Supreme Court judge and 67 years for a High Court judge. For members who join tribunals from the administrative side, the retirement age will be 65. Presently, retired judges serving on tribunal have terms extending from three to five years.

The issue of disparity in tenure, retirement age and allowances had come up before the Supreme Court in a PIl where the Court had threatened to stay all appointments if the Centre failed to bring in uniformity.

The note by the Cabinet said, “Chairpersons/members may be reappointed for one term of a maximum of five years so long as they satisfy the criterion of age of retirement.” The proposed ‘overarching’ legislation is expected to be taken by the Parliament in its upcoming session.

The proposal bars members and Chairpersons from taking up arbitration work while serving on the tribunals. But if they are involved in arbitration at the time of their appointment, the ‘competent authority’ may allow them to complete that work on a ‘case-by-case’ basis.

In tribunals where chairpersons and members are provided a consolidated amount, as is the case with TRAI, IRDA, SEBI and CCI, uniform allowances will not apply. Salaries would be uniform at Rs90,000 in case of a Supreme Court judge and Rs80,000 for a High Court judge and secretary in the Central Government joining the tribunal.