Jurisdiction of Central Administrative Tribunal
Devendra Narain
(Querist) 20 September 2010
This query is : Resolved
There are several national tribunals in the country such as CAT (Central Administrative Tribunal), ATFP (Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property) etc. If a member of such a tribunal has a grievance against the government, can he filed a petition in the CAT for relief? One legal opinion is that the CAT has no jurisdiction over cases concerning member of any tribunal? Is there any case law on the issue?
Devendra Narain
Chanchal Nag Chowdhury
(Expert) 21 September 2010
Go through the list of Central Govt.Departments & Undertakings amenable to the jurisdiction of CAT.
R.Ramachandran
(Expert) 21 September 2010
Dear Mr. Chanchal,
The question posed by Mr. Devendra Narain is not such a straight question for which answer can be found out from the list suggested by you.
His question is whether the Member (not an employee) of any Tribunal set up by the Central Government can approach the CAT for their grievances.
We have to understand that the terms and conditions of the services of the Member of Any Tribunal is contained in the relevant Act setting up the Tribunal itself. In such a situation, if any Member of such a Tribunal has any grievance, whether he can approach the CAT for redressal of the same is the question.
It is akin to asking whether a Judge of an high court having grievance in relation to his service can approach the High Court is the question.
The question certainly requires some research before being answered.
Devendra Narain
(Querist) 21 September 2010
I agree with Mr. Ramachandran.
To be specific, my query is about right of a member of the Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property (ATFP) which hears appeals against the forfeiture of properties under the NDPS Act and Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act.
About the conditions of service of members, each Act says: "The terms and conditions of the services of the Chairman and other members shall be such as may be prescribed." The Conditions of Service Rules framed under the Acts do not specifically mention the mechanism for the redressal of grievances of the members. However, there is a saving clause in the rules framed under each Act that says "In respect of any matter not covered by these rules, the Chairman and a member shall be governed by such rules for orders as may be applicable to a Central Government officer of equivalent pay."
I know that in at least one case, a High Court bench ruled that the CAT has no jurisdiction over the members of other tribunals including the ATFP. In view of the rules framed under the two Acts, this ruling does not appear to be convincing.
It is quite possible, the Supreme Court has given a ruling on the subject. But I am not aware of that. But I remember to have read somewhere that when a member of the CAT approached the Principal bench of the CAT, the question was discussed and the opinion of the President of the CAT was that the CAT was within its rights to hear the petition of its own member.
I request the experts to give their valuable opinion.
