CAT

SAS Pathshala
 Introduction
❖ Art. 323-A inserted in Indian Constitution vide
42nd Amendment Act-1976.
❖ Central Administrative Tribunals to adjudicate in
matters of recruitment and service conditions
were set up accordingly.
❖ The Administrative Tribunals Act of 1985
passed in July 1985.
❖ Benches started functioning w.e.f. 01.11.1985 at
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata & Allahabad.
Article-323A

Parliament may, by law, provide for the

adjudication or trial by administrative tribunals of
disputes and complaints with respect to
recruitment and conditions of service 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 authority within the
territory of India or under the control of the
Government of India or of any corporation
owned or controlled by the Government.
 OBJECTIVE

❖ To set up a machinery-
➢ independent of existing judiciary.
➢ provide speedy and inexpensive
relief for persons in services and
posts under the Union.
Why was the need for CAT?

❖ Earlier, it was left to the aggrieved person to

approach the High court of Judicature under
Art. 226 of the Constitution of India.
❖ Since the High Courts were dealing with all
types of cases, there was an inordinate delay
in settlement of the Writs.

…contd.
Why was the need for CAT?

❖ After the decision of the High Court, some

more years were spent to go through for an
appeal in the Supreme Court.
➢ Specialist bodies comprising both trained
administrators and those with judicial
experience.
➢ CJI, PM & Minister of Law & Justice had also
expressed anguish due to pendency of large
no. of cases.
 Notification

❖ Administrative Tribunals Act 1985 passed in

pursuance of the amendment of Constitution
of India by Articles 323A.
❖ The Central Administrative Tribunal notified
and established under this Act.
❖ Exercise the jurisdiction, powers and authority
conferred on it by this Act.
Benches and Divisions

❖ One Principal Bench at New Delhi.

❖ 16 other Benches located throughout the country
wherever the seat of a High Court is located.
❖ 33 Division Benches
❖ Circuit sittings are held at Nagpur, Goa, Aurangabad,
Jammu, Shimla, Indore, Gwalior, Bilaspur, Ranchi,
Pondicherry, Gangtok, Port Blair, Shillong, Agartala,
Kohima, Imphal, Itanagar, Aizwal and Nainital.
 Benches of CAT & Their Jurisdiction
Sl. Bench Jurisdiction Postal Address
No.
1. Principal Bench National Capital Territory of Delhi Copernicus Marg,
New Delhi New Delhi-110001
2. Ahmedabad State of Gujarat Opp. Sardar Patel
Stadium,
Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad-380009
3. Allahabad (i) State of Uttar Pradesh excluding 23-A, Thorn Hill Rd,
below mentioned Districts. Post Bag No. 013,
(ii) State of Uttaranchal Allahabad-211001
4. Lucknow Districts of Lucknow, Hardoi, Kheri, Gandhi Bhawan
Rai Bareli, Sitapur, Unnao, Faizabad, (Opp. Residency),
Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Gandhi Smarak
Barabanki, Gonda, Balarampur, Nidhi, Lucknow-
Partapgarh, Sultanpur in Uttar 266001.
Pradesh
 Benches of CAT & Their Jurisdiction
Sl. Bench Jurisdiction Postal Address
No.
5. Bangalore State of Karnataka 2nd Floor Commercial
Complex (BDA),
Indira Nagar,
Bangalore-560038
6. Chandigarh (i) State of J & K (ii) State of Haryana Opp. Hotel Shivalik
(iii) State of Himachal Pradesh (iv) View, Sector 17,
State of Punjab (v) Union territory of Chandigarh-160017
Chandigarh
7. Chennai (i) State of Tamil Nadu Additional City Civil
(ii) Union Territory of Pondicherry Court Building, High
Court Campus,
Chennai-600104
8. Cuttack State of Orissa Rajaswa Bhawan, 4th
Floor, Cuttack-
753002
 Benches of CAT & Their Jurisdiction
Sl. Bench Jurisdiction Postal Address
No.
9. Earnakulam (i) State of Kerala (ii) Union Kandomkulathy Towers, 5th &
Territory of Lakshadweep 6th Floor, Opp. Maharaja
College, MG Road, Ernakulam,
Cochin-682001.
10. Guwahati (i) State of Assam (ii) State of Rajgarh Road, Shillong Road
Manipur (iii) State of Meghalaya (Bhangagarh), Post Box No. 58,
(iv) State of Nagaland (v) State of GPO, Guwahati-781005
Tripura (vi) State of Arunachal
Pradesh (vii) State of Mizoram

11. Hyderabad (i) State of Andhra Pradesh New Insurance Building

(ii) State of Telangana Complex, 6th Floor, Tilak Marg
(Abids), Post Box No. 07,
Hyderabad-500001
12. Jabalpur (i) State of Madhya Pradesh (ii) Caravs Building, 15 Civil Lines
State of Chattisgarh Jabalpur-482001
 Benches of CAT & Their Jurisdiction
Sl. Bench Jurisdiction Postal Address
No.
13. Jaipur Districts of Ajmer, Alwar, Baran, Bharatpur, C-42 Bhagat Watika,
Bundi, Dausa, Dholpur, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Civil Lines, Raj
Jhunjhunu, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Sikar, Bhavan Road,
Tonk and Karauli in the State of Rajasthan Jaipur-302006
14. Jodhpur State of Rajasthan excluding the Districts House No. 69, 1st
mentioned above. Polo (PAOTA), Post
Box No. 619,
Jodhpur-342006
15. Kolkata (i) State of Sikkim (ii) State of West Bengal CGO Complex,
(ii) Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Nizam’s Place
Islands Compound, 2nd MSO
Building, 11th-12th
Floor, 234/4, AJC
Bose Road, Kolkata-
700020
Benches of CAT & Their Jurisdiction

Sl. Bench Jurisdiction Postal Address

No
.
16. Mumbai (i) State of Maharashtra (ii) State Gulestan Building,
of Goa (iii) Union Territory of No. 6, 3rd - 4th Floor,
Dadra and Nagar Haveli (iv) Prescot Road, Near
Union Territory of Daman and Diu Mumbai Gymkhana
Club (fort) Mumbai-
400001
17 Patna (i) State of Bihar (ii) State of 88-a, BM Enterprises,
Jharkhand Sri Krishna Nagar,
Patna-800001
Composition of Tribunals and
Benches thereof

❖ The Principal Bench, New Delhi: headed by a

Chairman.
➢ also has a Vice-Chairman, besides Judicial/Admn.
Members.
❖ Other Benches: headed by a Vice-Chairman.
➢ also have Judicial / Administrative Members to the
extent necessary
➢ The Admn. Members possess necessary expertise and familiarity
with administrative procedures and rules, to deal with service
problems in a satisfactory way by finding out the facts and knowing
relevant rules.
Qualifications

(1) Chairman-
➢ A person shall not be qualified for
appointment as the Chairman unless he-
(a) is, or has been, a Judge of a High
Court; or
(b) has, for at least two years, held the
office of Vice-Chairman;
Qualifications

(2) Vice-Chairman
➢ A person shall not be qualified for appointment as the Vice-
Chairman unless he-
(a) is, or has been, or is qualified to be a Judge of a High Court; or

(b) has for at least two years, held the post of a Secretary to the Govt.
of India or any other post under the Central or a State Govt.
carrying a scale of pay which is not less than that of an Additional
Secretary to the Govt. of India; or

(c) has, for a period of not less than three years, held office as a
Judicial Member or an Admn. Member.
Qualifications

(3) Judicial Member-

➢ A person shall not be qualified for appointment
as a Judicial Member unless he-
(a) is, or has been, or is qualified to be a Judge of
a High Court; or
(b) has been a member of Indian Legal Service
and has held a post in Grade I of the service
for at least three years.
Qualifications

(3 A) Administrative Member-
➢ A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Administrative
Member unless he-
(a) Has, for at least two years, held the post of an Additional
Secretary to the Govt. of India or any other post under the Central
or a State Govt. carrying a scale of pay which is not less than that
of an Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India; or
(b) Has, for at least three years, held the post of a Joint Secretary to
the Govt. of India or any other post under the Central or a State
Govt. carrying a scale of pay which is not less than that of a Joint
Secretary to the Govt. of India, and shall, in either case, have
adequate admn. experience.
Qualifications

The Chairman and every other

Member of the Central Administrative
Tribunal shall be appointed after
consultation with the Chief Justice of
India by the President.
 JURISDICTION, POWERS AND AUTHORITY
OF TRIBUNALS

❖ Derived from the Administrative Tribunal Act-1985.

❖ Exercise all jurisdiction, powers and authority
exercisable immediately before that day by all courts in
relation to-
➢ (a) Recruitment and matters concerning recruitment,
(i) to any All India Service or
(ii) to any civil service of the Union or
(iii) a civil post under the Union or
(iv) to a post connected with defence or in the defence
services, being, in either case, a post filled by
civilian.
JURISDICTION, POWERS AND AUTHORITY
OF TRIBUNALS

➢ (b) All service matters concerning-

(i) a member of any All-India Service;
(ii) a person appointed to any civil service
of the Union or any civil post under the
Union;
(iii) a civilian appointed to any defence
service or a post connected with
defence.
JURISDICTION, POWERS AND AUTHORITY
OF TRIBUNALS

➢ (c) All service matters pertaining to

service in connection with the affairs of
the Union concerning a person-
➢ Whose services have been placed by a
State Govt. or any local or other authority
or any corporation or other body at the
disposal of the Central Govt.
JURISDICTION, POWERS AND AUTHORITY
OF TRIBUNALS

❖The Central Govt. may, by

notification, apply the provisions
of the Act to any local or other
authority or Corporation or
Societies.
SAMPLE NOTIFICATION

MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PERSONS

(Department of Personnel and Training)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 12th April, 2013
S.O. 958(E). — In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of
section 14 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 (13 of 1985), the
Central Government hereby specifies the 22nd April, 2013 as the date on
and from which the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 14 of the said
Act shall apply to the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights
Authority being an autonomous body within the territory of India and makes
the following amendments in the notification of the Government of India, in
the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of
Personnel and Training) published vide number G.S.R.730(E), dated the
2nd May, 1986, namely:—
Service Matter

(i) Remuneration (including allowances),

pension and other retirement benefits;
(ii) Tenure including confirmation, seniority,
promotion, reversion, premature retirement
and superannuation;
(iii) Leave of any kind;
(iv) Disciplinary matters;
(v) Any other matter.
Service Matter

Any other matter includes-

(i) transfer;
(ii) allotment of quarters;
(iii) eviction proceedings under Public Premises
Act;
(iv) determination of marital status for purposes
of family pension.
.

Different Steps
of
Litigation in CAT
Exhausting Remedies

➢ Before approaching CAT, the applicant has

to avail all the remedies available to him
under the relevant service rules.
➢ Exhaustion is supposed if final order has
been passed on his appeal by the highest
authority or if no such order is passed, after
lapse of a period of six months from the date
of such appeal having been made.
Limitation

➢ The application has to be filed within one

year from the date of final order.
➢ If the competent authority to pass final order
has not passed said order, application has to
be filed after expiry of six months from the
submission of appeal and within one year
from the date of expiry of the said period of
six months.
Limitation

➢ The Act provides for admission of an

application for disposal, in relaxation of the
above limitation, if sufficient cause is shown
for not making the application within such
period.
➢ A separate application is required to be filed
for condonation of delay, supported by an
affidavit.
Types of Application

❖ Original Application (OA).

❖ Transferred Application (TA).
❖ Review Application (RA).
❖ Contempt Petition.
❖ Petition for Transfer.
❖ Miscellaneous Application (MA).
Original Application (OA)

➢ Marks the commencement of the litigation.

➢ Filed by person(s) aggrieved under Section 19
of the Administrative Tribunals Act,1985.
➢ Are numbered serially throughout the year.
➢ Are referred to through the serial No. and the
year of filing.(2049/2002; 1931/2007)
➢ All reference to the OA are made through this
number
Transferred Application (TA)

➢ Every suit or other proceedings pending in any

court before the establishment of the Tribunal
should stand transferred to the CAT.
➢ As and when any new organization is brought
within the jurisdiction of CAT, any suit or
proceeding relating to such organization should
be transferred to the CAT.
➢ Such Applications are numbered as TA No.
22/2003, 05/2014 etc.
Review Application (RA)

➢ Parties may file applications before the

Tribunal for Review of the Orders of the
Tribunal.
➢ Such applications praying for review of any
order of the tribunal are termed as Review
Application.
➢ These are referred to as - RA No. 16 of 2003 in
OA No.345/2002
Contempt Petition

➢ Parties may file contempt petition against each

other.
➢ Generally, filed by the applicant in OA for non-
compliance of the Order of the Tribunal.
➢ Contempt Petitions are filed by name.
➢ These are referred to as CP No…….of 2007 in
OA No……of 2006.
Petition for Transfer

➢ Any of the parties to an application may

request the chairman for transfer of a case
from one bench to another.
(Section 25 of Administrative Tribunal Act.)

➢ Such requests for transfer are numbered as

PT No……./2009.
Miscellaneous Application (MA)

➢ Whenever a need arises for additional written

submission to the Tribunal , the same is met
through Miscellaneous Application. Examples-
a. Vacating interim orders,
b. Making amendments to the Pleading.
c. For adding more respondents to the case,
etc.
➢ MAs are numbered as MA No………of ……in
OA No……….of ………
Procedure for filing applications

❖ OA to be presented in Form I-
⚫ by applicant in person or;
⚫ by an agent or;
⚫ by a duly authorized legal practitioner to the
Registrar or;
⚫ any other officer authorized in writing by the
Registrar to receive the same by Registered
Post with Acknowledgement due.
OA: Two Compilations

❖ Two compilations (in triplicate)

➢ Compilation No. 1. – application with the
impugned orde;
➢ Compilation No. 2. - all other documents
and annexures referred to in the
application in a paper book form.
OA: Additional Copies

❖ If the no. of respondents are more than one,

extra copies be furnished.
➢ Provided that where the number of
respondents is more than five, the Registrar
may permit the applicant to file the extra
copies of the application at the time of issue
of notice to the respondents.
OA: Receipt Slip (Form-II)

➢ The applicant may attach to his

application a receipt slip in Form II to be
signed by the Registrar or the officer
receiving the application on behalf of the
Registrar in acknowledgement of the
receipt of the application.
OA: Joint Application

❖ The Tribunal may permit more than

one person to join together and file
a single application if the nature of
relief prayed for is common.
Endorsement by Registrar

❖ The Registrar shall endorse on

every application the date on which
it is presented and shall sign the
endorsement.
Scrutiny of Application

➢ If, on scrutiny, the application is found to be in

order, it shall be duly registered and given a
serial number.
➢ If found to be defective and the defect noticed
is-(a) formal in nature, the Registrar may allow
the party to satisfy the same in his presence,
and (b) not formal in nature, the Registrar may
allow the applicant such time to rectify the
defect as he may deem fit.
Non-rectification or Defects in OA

❖ The Registrar may for reasons to be

recorded in writing, decline to
register the application and place
the matter before the Bench for
appropriate orders.
 Place of filing applications
(Serving Officials)

❖ An application shall ordinarily be filed with

the Registrar of the Bench within whose
jurisdiction-
(i) the applicant is posted for the time being,
or
(ii) the cause of action, wholly or in part, has
arisen.
 Place of filing applications
(Officials-Retd./Not in Service)

❖ Retd./Not in Service Officials may file an

application with the Registrar of the
Bench within whose jurisdiction such
person is ordinarily residing at the time of
filing of the application.
 Application fee
➢ A fee of rupees fifty to be remitted either in the form of
crossed demand draft or through a crossed Indian
Postal Order drawn in favour of the Registrar of the
concerned Bench.
➢ Provided that where the Tribunal permit a single
application to be filed, either by more than one person or
by an Association, the fee payable shall be rupees fifty.
➢ Provided further that where the Tribunal is satisfied that
an applicant is unable to pay the prescribed fee on ground
of indigence, it may exempt such an applicant from the
payment of fee.
Contents of application

❖ Every application shall set forth concisely under

distinct heads the grounds(numbered
consecutively) for such application.
❖ Typed in double space on one side on thick
paper of good quality
❖ A separate application to seek an interim order
or direction or condone of delay not needed if in
original application the same is prayed for. If not
already prayed for, the same may be filed
separately in Form III.
Documents to accompany the
application

(i) attested true copy of the order against which

the application is filed.
(ii) copies of the documents relied upon by the
applicant and referred to in the application;
(iii) an index of the documents.
➢ The above documents may be attested by a
legal practitioner or by a gazetted officer and
each document shall be marked serially as
Annexures A1, A2, A3 and so on.
Documents to accompany the
application

➢ Where an application is filed by any

agent, documents authorizing him to act
as such agent shall also be appended to
the application.
➢ Provided that where an application is filed
by a legal practitioner, it shall be
accompanied by a duly executed
`Vakalatnama’.
.

Thank you