Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, June 19: The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Retd) Dr B D Mishra today inaugurated the first Circuit Sitting of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu Bench at Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra in Leh.
Administrative Member/Head of Department CAT Jammu Bench, B Anand; Judicial Member, CAT Jammu Bench, Rajinder Singh Dogra; Judicial Member, CAT Patna Bench, Ajay Pratap Singh; Principal Registrar, CAT Principal Bench, New Delhi, Preeti Singh and Administrative Secretary, Law and Justice, Michael D’Souza, ADGP Ladakh, Dr SD Singh Jamwal ; President of District Bar Association Leh, Mohd Shafi Lassu and members of District Bar Association Leh; members of CAT Jammu Bench; Legal Assistants and other officials were present during the inauguration.
The Circuit Sitting of CAT Jammu Bench is being held on June 19 and 20 to hear and dispose of cases listed before the Division Bench comprising Administrative Member, B Anand and Judicial Member, R S Dogra.
Terming the inauguration as a momentous occasion, the LG stated that the Circuit Sitting of the CAT Jammu Bench would benefit the people of Leh district. He highlighted the need for the judicial system to treat everyone equally in the eye of the law.
The LG flagged four critical points during his address to the gathering; firstly, CAT Jammu Bench in Leh should shift from its present temporary location to a permanent place in the judiciary premises now coming up at Melongthang; secondly, the need to have a CAT Bench in Kargil also; thirdly, the need to operate Circuit Sitting of CAT Jammu Bench in the winter months as well and , finally, speedy disposal of cases.
Administrative Member/HoD CAT Jammu Bench, B Anand informed that CAT Jammu Bench is responsible for taking care of service matters of the people of Leh district while CAT Srinagar Bench takes care of service matters of the people of Kargil district. He also informed that only 20-30 cases are pending with the CAT Jammu Bench.
Assuring that the service matter cases would be resolved at the earliest, B Anand stated that the presence of Circuit Sitting of CAT Jammu Bench should facilitate a lesser number of litigations and not vice-versa.
The message from Chairman CAT, Justice Ranjit Vasantrao More was also read out on the occasion.