here is one more thing special to Jammu and Kashmir and no other state or Union Territory having the privilege of having not only two full fledged benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) one each at Srinagar and Jammu but shortly both being in full functional form as well. It may be recalled that the first CAT bench was set up at Jammu earlier and the second one at Srinagar is going to be made functional shortly. It is , therefore, a matter of great relief to employee litigants of Jammu and Kashmir of all India services in respect of issues concerning their recruitment, service conditions and allied matters . The employees comprise any civil service of the Union, defence or related to defence , employees of PSUs or any other public sector organisations , the number of whom in the UT being substantial shall , therefore, stand benefitted with the establishment of the two benches of the CAT. More so, it is because of the fact that while for adjudication purposes in such cases, they had to visit Chandigarh or Delhi , now even between the two capital cities , the relief is there in not moving from one to the other city even. Jurisdictions and district wise areas having already been announced in respect of both the Tribunals would surely make things easier for litigants. Since these type of Tribunals are not bound by Civil Procedure Code but by the principles of natural justice, many a time, therefore, occasions of preferring appeals against the orders of the CAT mandated to adjudicate in the specific areas only that of the service and recruitment issues of the personnel specified , have to be made in the High Court and not in the Supreme Court directly . This may be not taken as something appealing to the employee litigants where fast track decisions against the orders of the Tribunal cannot be ensured .It is despite the fact that it is basically provided for in the very Act of the Parliament in 1985 that judgments of the CAT in service related matters can only be challenged in the Supreme Court but since in the subsequent opinion of the Supreme Court that the power of judicial review of the High Court cannot be taken away , appeals can only be preferred in High Courts. It can be safely construed that the CAT having thus become a three tier system , perhaps the very purpose of establishment of CAT may not have been fully realised in the opinion of those who had to get things stretched to seeking justice under appeals . That in most of the Tribunals, cases are decided in a record period of six months usually is the brightest part of the basic objective of establishment of the CAT and must be a good news to the employees of Jammu and Kashmir under the specified service origins covered under the provision and the jurisdiction of the CAT. However, it also is a reality that appeals against the Tribunal orders usually takes years in High courts due to the volume of cases attended to and pending in such courts. Again, the cost of dispensation of justice / adjudication in CAT is astonishingly cheapest as against in respect of appeals in High Court and subsequently in Supreme Court the same being substantial. That being the routine , usually the orders of the Tribunals have little scope to be appealed against and since both the CAT benches are to start functioning for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir , the employees concerned desirous to approach these Tribunals shall stand vastly benefitted. We hope the requisite formalities and the requirements of the appointment process for the second bench that at Srinagar are all complete at an early date
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