Mandatory Tribunal composition renders an award void when the statutory adjudicatory body is incompletely constituted.

A Tribunal constituted under Section 60 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 must be composed in the manner mandated by the statute, and its members must participate in adjudication unless absence is unavoidable. The Court treated the Tribunal as a composite statutory quasi-judicial body whose award is the award of a court, making proper constitution mandatory rather than directory. An award made by an incompletely constituted Tribunal, consisting only of the President, was therefore coram non judice, invalid, and liable to be set aside. The matter was remitted for fresh adjudication by a properly constituted Tribunal.

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Issues: Whether an award made by a Tribunal constituted under Section 60 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 was valid when the Tribunal was not properly constituted and consisted only of the President.

Analysis: The Tribunal under the Act is a statutory quasi-judicial body whose award is treated as the award of a Court. The governing provision requires a three-member Tribunal, and each member must participate in the adjudication unless absence is unavoidable. The mandatory nature of the composition is reinforced by the scheme of the Act and by the principle that the Tribunal acts as a composite body, with the majority view governing where there is disagreement. An award made by an incompletely constituted Tribunal is therefore coram non judice and cannot be sustained.

Conclusion: The award was invalid for want of proper constitution of the Tribunal and was liable to be set aside.

Final Conclusion: The matters were remitted for fresh adjudication by a properly constituted Tribunal in accordance with the statutory mandate.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute mandates adjudication by a Tribunal of specified composition, an award rendered by a Tribunal not so constituted is void and inoperative because the statutory requirement is mandatory, not directory.

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