On August 3, during protests by the opposition, the bill was intended to abolish many courts of appeal established under various laws, and was passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha without debate. On August 9, Rajya Sabha approved the Court Reform Act of 2024 amid opposition protests against the Pegasus project report, agricultural law and price increases. On August 9, the vice president voted on a motion to submit the bill to a select committee. As a prerequisite for a split vote, all members, including protesting opposition leaders, must return to their seats to accept the order to return to the House of Representatives.
The bill was rejected with 44 members voting in favor and 79 members opposing it. This is the first divisional vote for this monsoon conference, and the conference has been disrupted since it began on July 19. The bill aims to dissolve certain existing appellate bodies and transfer their functions (such as appeal decisions) to other existing judicial bodies. The courts that the bill seeks to repeal include the Film Certification Court of Appeals, the Airport Court of Appeals, the Advance Ruling Bureau, the Intellectual Property Appeals Board, and the Plant Variety Protection Appeals Court. The functions of these courts will be transferred to the existing judicial institutions.
The bill replaced the similar decree issued in April 2024 with similar provisions. The ordinance was challenged in the Supreme Court for failing to comply with the Supreme Court’s previous ruling to the court. In July 2024, the court abolished certain provisions of the regulation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified when talking about the bill in Rajya Sabha on August 9 that the High Court did not repeal the bill based on constitutionality. The bill proposes to incorporate the regulations on the composition and term of the selection committee into the law itself. Pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 7, of the Act, the presidents and members of the courts will be appointed on the recommendation of the selection committee. The bill amended the 2017 Finance Act, stipulating that committee members will be (i) the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, or a Supreme Court judge appointed by him as chairperson, (ii) two clerks appointed by the central government, ( iii) Acting or retiring president, or retired Supreme Court judge, or retired Supreme Court president, and (iv) secretaries of the ministries that make up the court.
