SC Extends Tenures Of CAT Members Using Its Special Powers Under Article 142
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-05-14 09:45:07
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The Supreme
Court used its omnibus powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to take the
unprecedented step of ordering the extension of tenures of all existing
judicial and administrative members of Central Administrative Tribunals (CAT)
till vacancies were filled. The court was constrained to take this step as CATs
are crippled by over 60% vacancies and if existing members stop working at the
end of their tenures, most of these tribunals will stop functioning.
CATs were
designed as judicial bodies to redress the grievances of government employees.
In fact, they serve a huge purpose in the justice delivery chain as they take
the load off the High Courts in respective states for otherwise these
administrative cases would have been heard by them, further burdening the High
Courts. But if appointments are not made in time and if vacancies mean that justice
is not delivered then it defeats the very purpose of establishing these
tribunals.
During the
course of hearing, the petitioner, CAT Bar Association, pointed out that out of
the 69 posts across India, 40 were lying vacant and many members were due for
retirement. Tribunals in several states had no member and were not functioning.
It said that if even some of the remaining 29 members were allowed to stop work
when their tenure ended, the entire system would collapse.
The Centre
replied that it was in the process of filling up 34 vacancies (for which it had
received 6000 applications) by July-end and was also ensuring that cases from
states where there were no working members were heard in virtual or hybrid mode
by members from other benches. But that is a temporary solution as it is not
possible for members of other benches to hear cases from such benches mainly
because they are already overworked with work of their own benches. The problem
can only be solved by keeping CATs at full strength.
Posts in
tribunals lying vacant is a recurring problem and the Centre and the Supreme
Court must set up a system where the process of filling up the vacancies that
would arise on the end of the tenure of each member is started at least six
months before that date. Since it is a long process, any delay in starting it
means that posts lie vacant for several months before a new appointment is
made. If a person is appointed one or two months in advance, he or she will be
ready to take over as soon as the tenure of the earlier member ends. Delay in
such cases cannot be condoned and it is sad that the situation has reached such
a stage where the Supreme Court had to use its special powers to keep the CATs
running.
