Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 16 : The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir will soon be covered by Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which was hitherto having jurisdiction over Central Services in Jammu & Kashmir but will now also have jurisdiction to handle disputes and other issues related to the non-central / UT services in the Union Territory.
This was disclosed here today by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also Incharge nodal department for CAT, during his address at the All India Annual Conference of Central Administrative Tribunal.
The conference was presided over by Union Minister for Law & Justice Ravi Shanker Prasad and attended, among others, by Justice N V Ramana Judge Supreme Court of India, Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel Chief Justice High Court of Delhi, Justice L. Narasimha Reddy Chairman Central Administrative Tribunal, Union Secretary Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) C, Chandramoily, members of Administrative Tribunals across the country, senior officers of DoPT and senior functionaries from Govt of India.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) already had jurisdiction over Central Services in Jammu & Kashmir but will now also have jurisdiction over the Union Territory services. He said, in course of time, an exclusive bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) will be set up in Jammu & Kashmir itself and till then the Chandigarh bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) may attend to the service disputes and other cases from J & K.
He disclosed that very soon more number of members will be appointed to the Central Administrative Tribunal. He said, the process is already going on and shall be completed soon. One of the requirements projected by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Chairman is vacant posts in the Tribunal, which presently has only 39 members against the existing strength of 66 members, but the government is seriously working on it, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh lauded the working of Central Administrative Tribunal, its Chairman and its members, and said that in spite of increasing workload and increasing number of cases with the passage of time, the disposal rate is 100%. He, however, expressed concern over the number of appeals going to High Courts and Supreme Court against the Central Administrative Tribunal decisions because this, to some extent, defeated the very purpose for which the Central Administrative Tribunal had originally been envisaged.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on maximum governance and ease of governance, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a vibrant Central Administrative Tribunal can contribute towards this objective.
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