INDEX

 Introduction
 Objective
 Operating principles
 Functioning of CAT
 Structure of CAT
 Qualification of chairman and members
 Statistical data
 Jurisdiction and Tables of jurisdictions
 Various terminologies
 Procedural simplicity
 Appeal against order
 Case study
How CAT Helpful For CPWD Employees ?
CAT is helpful in providing justice to CPWD employees
as in following matters :
❖Salary fixation
❖Promotion
❖Recovery from salary
❖Pension
❖Deputation
❖Probation period etc.
INTRODUCTION
 The Central Administrative Tribunal had been established under
Article 323 -A of the Constitution for adjudication 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 other authorities
under the control of the Government. In the statement of object
and reasons on the introduction of the Administrative Tribunals
Act, 1985 it was mentioned:
 "It is expected that the setting up of such Administrative
Tribunals to deal exclusively with service matters would go a long
way in not only reducing the burden of the various Courts and
thereby giving them more time to deal with other cases
expeditiously but would also provide to the persons covered by
the Administrative Tribunals speedy relief in respect of their
grievances."
OBJECTIVE
 Objective is to easing the congestion of pending cases related to
service maters in various High Courts and other Courts in the
country.
 The Central Administrative Tribunal has been established as a
specialist body comprising of Administrative Members and
Judicial Members who by virtue of their specialized knowledge
are better equipped to dispense speedy and effective justice.
 FUNCTIONING OF CAT
The following are some of the features of the CAT's functioning:
 The Tribunal has been conferred the power to exercise the same
jurisdiction and authority regarding contempt of itself as a High
Court.
 Appeals against the orders of a tribunal could be made in the High
Court (and not the SC directly Chandra Kumar Case,1997).
 The CAT has 17 Benches in the country as well as 21 Circuit Benches.
The CAT Principal Bench deals with matters of the Government of
the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
 In deciding cases, the Tribunal is guided by the principles of natural
justice. It is not bound by the Civil Procedure Code. The central
government decides the salaries, emoluments, and conditions of
service of the Tribunal's employees.
 A petitioner can either appear in person before the Tribunal or take
the help of a legal practitioner
CHARACTERSTICS OF CAT
1. Administrative tribunals must have statutory origin i.e. they must be
created by any statute.
2. They must have some features of the ordinary courts but not all.
3. An administrative tribunal performs the quasi-judicial and judicial
functions and is bound to act judicially in every circumstance.
4. They are not adhered by strict rules of evidence and procedure.
5. Administrative tribunals are independent and not subject to any
administrative interference in the discharge of judicial or quasi-judicial
functions.
6. In the procedural matters, an administrative tribunal possesses the
powers of a court to summon witnesses, to administer oaths and to
compel the production of documents, etc.
6. These tribunals are bound to abide by the principle of natural justice.
“ No one should be made a judge in his own case, and the rule
against bias.”
6. A fair, open and impartial act is the indispensable requisite of the
administrative tribunals.
7. The prerogative writs of certiorari and prohibition are available
against the decisions of administrative tribunals.
STRUCTURE OF CAT
According to section 4 of Central Administrative Tribunal act 1985 members are
drawn from legal and administrative fields to provide the benefit of expertise in
both domains.

 Chairperson (tenure of 5 years or 65years of age, whichever is earlier)

Should be an SC judge or the Chief Justice of a High Court.
 Vice-chairperson (tenure of 5 years or 62years of age, whichever is earlier)
 Other members

All are appointed by the President.

 The Central Administrative Tribunal is headed by Hon'ble Chairman Sh.

Justice Ranjit Vasantrao More, retired Chief Justice, Meghalaya High Court.
There are 69 Hon'ble Members in various Benches of the Tribunal out of
which 34 are Judicial Members and 35 are Administrative Members. Subject to
other provisions of the Act, a Bench consists of one Judicial Member and one
Administrative Member.
Resignation and Removal
 Section 9 of the Act prescribes the procedure of resignation by any
member and removal of any member.
 The Chairman, Vice-Chairman or other members may resign from his
post by writing to the President.
 They shall be removed from their office only by an order made by the
President on the ground of proved mis behaviour or incapacity after an
enquiry made by a judge of the Supreme Court. They shall have the
right to be informed of the charges against them and shall be given a
reasonable opportunity of hearing. The Central Government may make
rules to regulate the procedure for the investigation of the charges
against them.
STATISTICAL DATA
 After the establishment of the Tribunal in 1985, it received 13,350
pending cases on transfer from the High Courts and subordinate
Courts under section 29 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985. Since
its inception in 1985, up to 30th June, 2022, about 8,82,085 cases were
instituted in the Tribunal. Out of those, 8,04,272 cases have already
been disposed off. That is a disposal rate of 91.18%.
 The Central Administrative Tribunal is empowered to frame its own
rules of procedure and practice. Under the said provision of the Act,
the Central Administrative Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1987 and
Central Administrative Tribunal Rules of Practice, 1993 have been
notified to ensure smooth functioning if the Tribunal. Under Section 17
of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985, the Tribunal has been
conferred with the power to exercise the same jurisdiction and
authority in respect of contempt of itself as a High Court.
STATISTICAL DATA
CAT JURISDICTION
 The CAT exercises original jurisdiction over all service
matters concerned with:
1. Members of the all-India services.
2. Persons appointed to any civil service of the Union or
civil post under the Union.
3. Civilians appointed to any defence services or posts
related to defence.
4. Employees of PSUs or public sector organizations were
notified by the government.
Note:-Members of the defence forces, officers, Supreme
Court staff, the Parliament's secretarial staff are not
covered under the CAT.
TABLE OF JURISDICTION OF
BENCHES OF CENTRAL
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
PROCEDURAL SIMPLICITY
 The procedural simplicity of the Act can be
appreciated from the fact that an aggrieved
government employee can also appear personally
before the Tribunal.
 An Original Application can be filed by remitting a
nominal fee of Rs. 50/- before the Tribunal.
 A provision has also been made in the Rules 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.
 Various Terminologies
 OA – Original Application ex. 2155/2022
(case no. / year )
 Statement Of Facts (SOF) : A legal document that sets forward factual
information without arguments.

 Counter Statement of Facts (CSF): Response by respondent with

paragraph wise answer.

 Rejoinder : The response by the petitioner to the counter affidavit filed by

the respondent.

 Counter Rejoinder : An affidavit filed by the respondent in reply to a

petition.
 Hearing : A proceeding before a court or other decision making body
or officer such as a government agency or a legislative committee.

 Hearing is concluded: When the court closes the time for receipt
of the evidence it is time for a judgment to be rendered and the hearing
to end.
 CAT decision : Finale decision.
CAUSE OF ACTION ARISES

 When all the channels are exhausted

 If no reply received for appeal-Six months after appeal.

Time limit

 One year from the date of cause of action

 Continous cause of action in cases like
- non settlement of pension
- non payment of pay

Defending CAT case:

 Get full facts of the case

 Application for vacation of inter imorder may be made
 Prepare reply
-objection relating to delay should be raised first
-objections relating to jurisdiction.
Defending CAT case...

 Reply should be verified and signed by the authorized officer.

 All relevant documents relied upon should be annexed to reply
 Relevant file/documents to be sent to CO/RO for defending the case-
File writ/SLP- Implement the order

Final Order on CAT case.

 Obtain copy of final order

 Get legal opinion for review/writ/SLP
 Take steps to
- file writ/SLP
- Implement the order
APPEALS AGAINST ORDERS
 The orders of Central Administrative Tribunal are challenged by
way of Writ Petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution
before respective High Court in whose territorial jurisdiction the
Bench of the Tribunal is situated.
Advantages of Administrative
Tribunals
 The concept of administrative tribunals was introduced because it has
certain advantages over ordinary courts. Few of them are mentioned
below-
 Flexibility: The introduction of administrative tribunals engendered
flexibility and versatility in the judicial system of India. Unlike the
procedures of the ordinary court which are stringent and inflexible, the
administrative tribunals have a quite informal and easy-going procedure.
 Speedy Justice: The core objective of the administrative tribunal is to
deliver quick and quality justice. Since the procedure here is not so
complex, so, it is easy to decide the matters quickly and efficiently.
 Less Expensive: The Administrative Tribunals take less time to solve the
cases as compared to the ordinary courts. As a result, the expenses are
reduced. On the other hand, the ordinary courts have cumbrous and slow-
going, thus, making the litigation costly. Therefore, the administrative
tribunals are cheaper than ordinary courts.
 Quality Justice: If we consider the present scenario, the administrative
tribunals are the best and the most effective method of providing
adequate and quality justice in less time.
 Relief to Courts: The system of administrative adjudication has lowered
down the burden of the cases on the ordinary courts.
CAT CASES IN CPWD
2
 2. The facts of the case are that the applicant retired in 31st November, 2015 as
Executive Engineer in the DCC-7. In compliance of the letter dated 26.08.2015 of the
Senior Accounts Officer, Audit Wing revised his pay and recovered Rs.31,061/- from
his salary on 19.10.2015. This action of the respondents is held to be in violation of
the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of State of Punjab
and Others etc Vs. Rafiq Masih etc in CA No. 11527/2014 (as well as office
memorandum issued by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
(Annexure A/4) vide O.M. dated 02.03.2016.
“ Recovery from retired employees, or employees who are due to retire
within one year, of the order of recovery would be impermissible in law .”
3. In the Counter, respondents have stated that the averments made by the applicant
are wrong. They have submitted that recovery of Rs.31,061/- has been made from the
applicant since excess payment by way of wrong pay fixation had been made to the
applicant in excess of his entitlement hence, immediate corrective action was
mandatory. The recovery they submit is fair, and, being a one-time measure, will
not result in any hardship to the applicant which would far outweigh the equitable
balance of the employer's right to recover the same.Recovery was made as per the
guidelines made in the DoPT OM No. dated 06.02.2014 vide para 3 sub para (iii),
which reads as under :-
"In all cases where the excess payments on account of wrong pay fixation,
grant of scale without due approvals, promotions without following the
procedure, or in excess of entitlements etc come to notice, immediate
corrective action must be taken."