The Act creates the National Tribunals Commission (NTC), hailed as a fix to years of court battles. And yes; it does fix many things: tighter appointment rules, stronger tenure, clearer oversight. But here’s the elephant in the room: every member of the NTC is appointed by the Central government. The Secretary who runs its administration? Appointed by the government. The rules governing salaries, staffing, even disciplinary procedures? All made by the executive. Even the Supreme Court didn’t demand a clone of its past judgments; just a constitutional minimum of independence. And while Parliament finally listened, it didn’t go far enough. Functional equivalence doesn’t mean copying courts; it means matching the safeguards they need to be truly impartial. That’s the real question: can a shield be trusted if the person wielding it is the same one you’re being protected from? The law says ‘yes’. History says ‘we’ll see’. Especially when the very system meant to guard against executive overreach… depends entirely on that same executive to function.