Retd IAS officers, Advocates also eligible
*Instructions issued to expedite process: Dr Jitendra
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 8: The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has initiated the process for filling up 27 vacancies in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) including Jammu and Srinagar benches after framing Rules in which retired Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers and Advocate eligible for the post of High Court Judges will also be considered for the posts.
“We have issued instructions to expedite the process for filling up vacancies in all CAT benches across the country including Jammu and Srinagar. As against 67 posts, only 40 Chairpersons and Members are in place. The vacancies will be filled up at the earliest,” Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Incharge DoPT, Dr Jitendra Singh said.
Official sources attributed delay in filling up of vacancies to framing of rules as earlier only Retired Judges of Supreme Court and Chief Justices of High Court were eligible for Chairpersonship of the CAT and most of them were not ready to accept the posts.
“However, now when new rules have been framed, the DoPT will expedite process to fill up all vacancies,” they said.
As per the revised rules, retired IAS officers and Advocates eligible for the posts of High Court Judges, can also be appointed as Chairperson and Members of the CAT.
“The IAS officers with 30-35 years of experience in the services know the laws. Similar is the case with Advocates. Therefore, now it will be easy to fill up the posts,” sources said.
They added that the five members Committee is in place for making the selections which include two Judges of the Supreme Court, and Secretaries of DoPT, Law and Revenue.
The DoPT had invited applications for the posts till April 26 and the response has been good, sources said, adding that after scrutiny and completion of requisite formalities, the posts will be filled and the CATs across India as well as its benches in Jammu and Srinagar will get full strength.
Sources pointed out that rules hadn’t been changed for CAT posts since 1985.
“With full strength of CATs in Jammu and Srinagar, service matters will be decided expeditiously,” sources said.
A day before, the Supreme Court had taken serious note of the fact that six circuit benches of the CAT had become virtually non-functional due to the retirement of judicial and administrative members saying, “with one member you cannot even constitute a bench”.
“We are issuing notice on this issue. Six benches of CAT including at Jabalpur, Cuttack, Lucknow, Jammu and Srinagar are left with only one member. With one member, you cannot even constitute a bench also”, Justice DY Chandrachud said.
Justice Surya Kant asked senior advocate Abhaya K Behera, appearing for the Bar Association, to furnish the details of members whose term is likely to expire in the near future.
The plea filed through Advocate Amita Singh Kalkal stated that 35 judicial members including the chairman of the CAT and 35 administrative members cater to the 19 benches and eight circuit benches and due to the retirement of members and non-filling of vacancies so created, many of the benches of these Tribunals have become non-functional.
It said that even though appointments are not taking place yet both judicial and administrative members are retiring at regular intervals.
It added that if the said situation continues for a couple of more months, more sanctioned benches of Central Administrative Tribunals will become non-functional and gave the details of 13 members who are due for retirement till November 2022.
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