‘Tribunals can’t function without adequate infrastructure’
*J&K Govt to file affidavit on requisite space for Tribunals
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 25: In a petition seeking appointment of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) members in J&K, a Bench of Supreme Court comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Koul and Justice Sudhanshu Dulia has directed Additional Solicitor General (ASG) to file an affidavit indicating progress made in this regard. The Apex Court further directed the J&K Government to file an affidavit insofar as the identification of requisite space for housing two Tribunals is concerned.
When the petition filed by Advocate Achal Sharma came up for hearing, Supreme Court observed, “Additional Solicitor General has produced the copies of records to submit that the sanctioned strength of the members of the CAT across the country is 70, consisting of 35 Judicial Members and 35 Administrative Members”, adding “at present, the occupation position is 23 and 22 respectively, including extensions granted and the vacant positions thus, across the country is 12 Judicial Members and 13 Administrative Members”.
“In the Central Administrative Tribunal, Jammu Bench the strength is of two each while one position is vacant for the Judicial Member and in Srinagar also it is an identical position”, the Apex Court observed, adding “the figures would be deceptive as it is also stated that the matters are being attended to virtually from other Benches except for one person physically being there in each of the two Tribunals”.
It was stated that insofar as the status of filling up of existing expected vacancies up to 31.12.2023 is concerned, the search and selection committee has completed the task and proposal was submitted for approval of the competent authority in the last week of June 2023 and the response is still awaited.
“In so far as the status of the infrastructure is concerned, it is stated that the Government of UT of J&K which was requested to provide additional spaces as per the norms of the Directorate of Estate, CAT, Jammu is stated to be located in Wajarat Road area but it is accepted fact that the accommodation is inadequate”, the Apex Court said, adding “CAT, Srinagar Bench is at the Old Assembly Complex in Shergari area where two court-rooms have been completed and four chambers for Members are complete as also the office staff”.
The Supreme Court noticed one more aspect that a Tribunal is created for expeditious disposal of cases, it must be appreciated that the ground work must be done beforehand—the Tribunal will require not only Members, but also space, support staff etc. “If this process is started afterwards, it is like putting a cart before the horse. In fact a legal impact study of even such aspects must be carried out beforehand”, the Supreme Court said.
“The note also suggests that land they have proposed is at the site of the High Court of J&K at Bemina in Kashmir. Suffice for us to say that these infrastructure aspects must be attended to urgently as Tribunals cannot function without adequate infrastructure”, the Apex Court further said, adding “one of aspects flagged by the petitioner on the last date was that the disposal of cases which have been returned to the High Court is to be dealt with by the Tribunal”.
Supreme Court observed that the data shows that the returned cases are only 1429 but the pending cases instituted in Tribunal amounts to more than 11,000 and the total pendency is about 16,000. “The process can only be speeded up if the Tribunal Members are appointed, as at present, out of eight Members, only two Members are effectively functioning while some other Members are operating with dual charge”, the Apex Court said.
Finally, Apex Court directed ASG to file an affidavit about the progress on the appointments and even ordered that J&K Government shall also file an affidavit regarding provision of adequate space for housing two Tribunals.
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