Will ‘CAT’ bell the cat?

Dheeraj Jandial
Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh has said that Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will soon be covered by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). Addressing the annual conference of the CAT in New Delhi on February 17, he said the tribunal will have jurisdiction to handle disputes and other issues related to the UT services. The CAT so far had jurisdiction only over central services issues in Jammu and Kashmir.
Dr Singh said that in due course of time, an exclusive bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal will be set up in Jammu and Kashmir and till then the Chandigarh bench of the tribunal may attend to the service disputes and other cases from the Union territory.
Reiterating that the CAT has been an essential organ to combat the ‘docket explosion’ the courts in India are facing, he said that the Administrative Tribunals, can be seen as the means to achieve the end, that is the expedious disposal of cases.
Historical Background
The Tribunals in India have a very engaging history, dating back to the year 1941, when the first Tribunal in the form of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, was established. After independence for a long time, a search was going on for a mechanism to relieve the courts, including High Courts and Supreme Court, from the burden of service litigation, which formed substantial portion of pending litigation. As early as 1958, this problem engaged attention of the Law Commission, which recommended for the establishment of tribunals consisting of judicial and administrative members to decide service matters. In 1969, Administrative Reforms Commission also recommended for the establishment of civil service tribunals, both for central and state civil servants. Central Government appointed a Committee under the chairmanship of Justice J.C. Shah of the Supreme Court in 1969, which also made similar recommendation. In 1975, Swaran Singh Committee again recommended for setting up of service tribunals. The idea of setting up of the service tribunals also found favour with the Supreme Court, which in Kamal Kanti Dutta versus Union of India, advocated for setting up of tribunals to save the courts from avalanche of writ petitions and appeals in service matters. It was against this backdrop that Parliament passed the 42nd Amendment, which added Part XIV-A in the Constitution. Article 323 A and 323 B enabled Parliament to constitute administrative tribunals for dealing with certain specified matters. The Enactment of Administrative Tribunals Act 1985 opened a new chapter in administering justice to the aggrieved government servants in service matters. Article 323 A specifically provided that Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication or trial by administrative tribunals of disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and conditions of services of persons appointed to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union, or of any state, or of any local or other authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India, or of any corporation owned or controlled by the Government. CAT as such enjoys the status and power of High Court and is expected to have same jurisdiction as that of the High Court.
CAT for J&K
The reorganization of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir as per the provisions of the Reorganization Act, which was passed in the first week of August 2019, resulted in applicability of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985 to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh with effect from October 31, 2019. Keeping this in mind, the common High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has initiated an exercise for identifying the matters which appear to be covered under Section 28 and 29 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985 and are required to be transferred to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
A notice in this regard has been issued by the Registrar Judicial, which read, “The detail of the matters have been made available on the website and if there is any matter left out, the details thereof may also be furnished to the Registry by the concerned advocate, department or litigant”.
The Advantages
Having jurisdiction to handle disputes related to non-central and UT services in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh; the transfer of over 50,000 service matters from both the wings of High Court to Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) shall relive the High Court of the burden of these service matters. The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir shall get adequate time to attend to other cases which are also pending for disposal since long.
Secondly, the litigants would get an exclusive platform for redressal of their service matters in a time bound manner.
Flexibility: The procedure of the Administrative Tribunals is far more flexible than that of the Courts. Further, Section 3 of the Administrative Tribunals Act read, “all the proceedings before the Tribunals shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meanings of Sections 193, 219 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code”. The flexibility is also afforded as per the Section 22 of the Act, which states, “Tribunal is not bound by the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure but is guided by the principles of natural justice.
Cheaper: The administrative tribunals are cheap and can ensure quick justice.
Simplified Procedures: The procedures of the administrative tribunals are simpler than the normal court proceedings and can easily be understood by a layman.
The disadvantages
Legal experts are of the opinion that the most important challenge is the issue of fragmentation and administrative adjudication being viewed as a deviation from the Rule of Law.
Administrative tribunals have their separate laws and procedures that are often made by them, leading to serious neglect to the principle of the Rule of Law or in derogation of separation of powers owing to either under-delegation or over-delegation.
Most of the tribunals don’t enjoy the same amount of independence from the Executive as do the courts and judges.
There is no uniform code of procedure in the administrative tribunals like that of normal courts.
Experts and researchers are of the opinion that the administrative tribunals are handed by individuals like administrators and technical heads who may have no experience or training related to judicial proceedings. The contention that the expertization of regulatory bodies and judicial bodies through tribunalization may also have an implication for democracy, is another belief.
Speedier Justice – Will it bell the cat?
On 6th of February, 2019, in his written reply on the floor of Lok Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Personnel told that a total of 50,053 cases are pending before the 17 benches of CAT situated across the country as on December 31, 2018. He said, of these, 4141 cases are pending for more than five years, 10263 for between three to five years, 9006 between two to three years, 10958 between one to two years and 15685 for less than one year.
Dr Jitendra informed that the highest (10673) pending cases are with CAT’s principal bench in New Delhi, followed by 5797 with Allahabad bench, 4345 Kolkatta bench and 3957 with the Hyderabad bench.
Although, the Chandigarh bench of CAT has zero pendency, the transfer in bulk of over 50,000 service matters from Jammu and Kashmir to it poses a challenge in providing speedy justice to the aggrieved government servants. This is confounded by the fact that the litigants will be subjected to undue harassment as it would not be possible to for every aggrieved employee to visit Chandigarh for pursuing the litigation.
The pointed assertions of the Chairman Central Administrative Tribunal Justice L. Narasimha Reddy towards the dearth of members in the Tribunal is a reference that may come in the way of the expeditious disposal of service matters.
The Chairman CAT disclosed that against the existing strength of 66 members, the Tribunal is presently adjudicating with only 39 members.
Demand for Exclusive Bench
While the CAT with its 17 benches spread across the country and 21 circuit benches is catering to speedier adjudication of service matters of the government employees, the need for setting up of an exclusive bench of CAT in Jammu and Kashmir is primarily based on the expected transfer in bulk of over 50,000 service litigations to Chandigarh bench of CAT from the High Court.
Although, one circuit bench of CAT was already holding its sittings in Srinagar and Jammu three-four times in a year, the arrangement of circuit benches is contested as with the reorganization of the erstwhile State the jurisdiction of CAT stands extended to include even the non-central Government services. Legal experts are of the view that a permanent mechanism is required to be evolved, especially in the wake of large number of service cases and extending of jurisdiction over non-central Government employees.
The endorsement for exclusive bench of CAT is also voiced as fulfillment of the Prime Minister’s concern on maximum governance and ease of governance.
The Administrative Tribunals were conceived as and constitute an effective an effective and real substitute for the High Courts as regards service matters and serve as an alternative institutional mechanism. They must therefore be able to inspire public confidence by providing themselves to be competent and expert mechanism with a judicial and objective approach. Being distinct from the ordinary courts of land as per the L. Chandrakumar Case (1997 (2) SCR 1886), the Supreme Court held that they are not on par with the High Court but serve a supplemental function to High Courts.
Undoubtedly, the experience so far is that the existing tribunals have numerous limitations and their full potential is not utilized at the present juncture. Comprehensive reforms are necessary for efficient functioning of the tribunals and the speedy justice to the aggrieved public servants. Will CAT bell this remains to be seen.
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