It is really a matter of great satisfaction that instead of one, now there will be two benches of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Jammu and Kashmir with jurisdiction over two Union Territories – One, Jammu and Kashmir and Second- Ladakh. With this, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will earn the distinction of being the first UT in the country to have two benches of the CAT, the approval of which having been accorded by the Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister has addressed the long pending grievances of the employees as the sole CAT bench at Chandigarh used to cater to the states of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
It may be recalled that the first development in the matter took place immediately after the abrogation of Article 370 and the Special Status when the first CAT bench had been inaugurated in Jammu in June 2020 by the Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh , in charge Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The sole bench was having jurisdiction over the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Now, with two benches , the employees of UT of Ladakh can approach either of the two benches for getting their grievances about service matters redressed while Government employees of Jammu and Kashmir shall be greatly benefited as it was going to provide relief and convenience to them in service and allied matters. What is , however, required now is to see the tribunals functioning at both the capital cities at the earliest for which the requisite posts are reportedly shortly going to be filled up.
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