Bill passed to restructure Land Reforms Tribunal

Soumitra Nandi, MP, 25 June 2025, Kolkata: The West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2025 was passed in the state Assembly on Tuesday with the objective of rationalising the composition of the Selection Committee of the West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal and bringing a balance between the judicial and administrative aspects.

As per the Bill, the administrative member shall be appointed by the state government, on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of three members, to be constituted by the state government. In the earlier West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal Act 1997, the administrative member was appointed by the Governor of Bengal.

The Chairman of the Selection Committee shall be the Chief Justice of India or his nominee, with a casting vote, and the two members shall be the Land Reforms Commissioner, Bengal, and a secretary in any department of the state government.

“The inclusion of the Land Reforms Commissioner in the Selection Committee is aimed at strengthening the functioning of the Tribunal,” said Trinamool Congress MLA Mohammad Ali during a discussion on the Bill.

Chandrima Bhattacharjee, Minister of State for Land and Land Reforms, during her reply on the Bill, said that it delegates power to the Tribunal’s Chairman for constituting a larger bench in the event of a difference of opinion between two or more benches and its composition in such an event. “The number of judicial members shall be more than the administrative members while constituting such a large bench for strengthening the tribunal,” she added.