Posted On:
16 FEB 2020 7:09PM by PIB Delhi
The annual All India Conference of the Central Administrative Tribunal was held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 16th
February 2020. The one day conference was attended by Judicial and
Administrative Members from all 17 Benches of CAT from across the
country, members of the CAT BAR Association, and eminent Jurists, who
deliberated on key issue related to the functioning of the Tribunal and
priorities for 2020.
The
Conference was presided over by Hon’ble Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union
Minister for Law and Justice. In his address, the Hon’ble Minister
congratulated Justice L Narismha Reddy, Chairman CAT, and his team for
bringing about a significant improvement in disposal of cases despite
shortage of Members in the Tribunal. He welcomed the role which the CAT
has played in the evolution of service jurisprudence in the country, in
the light of its various milestone judgments. He emphasised the need for
an in-house judicial impact assessment by CAT. He also advised that
judicial learning is also very important since the law is in the realm
of ambiguity. He emphasised the importance of training in service
jurisprudence. He also highlighted the importance of laying down
judgments on service jurisprudence with greater clarity, in view of the
government’s commitment towards greater transparency in governance. He
assured the help of the IT Department and use of artificial intelligence
in the functioning of the Tribunal.
Chief
Guest Hon’ble Mr. Justice N.V. Ramana, Judge, Hon’ble Supreme Court of
India emphasised that despite the fact that there have been signifiant
vacancies in CAT, under the leadership of Justice Reddy, outstanding
disposal of cases has been achieved. His Lordship also talked about
service conditions of Members of the Tribunal and also emphasized that
the tenure should be of adequate length. His Lordship also highlighted
that judgment should be precise and concise, bringing about clarity and
reasoning. He also indicated that service matter litigation has
significantly increased of late with the result that there are currently
about 50,000 cases in CAT.
Guest
of Honour Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office emphasised
Honourable Prime Minister’s commitment towards ‘maximum governance,
minimum government’, and the principle of “perform, reform, and
transform.” In this direction, significant efforts have been made to
bring about improvements in various aspects of service conditions. He
reiterated that CAT has been an essential organ of the government
towards the achievement of a complaints-free delivery system in the last
few years, and that significant changes have been made in the
Prevention of Corruption Act and other service matters.
He
said that currently there is a shortage of Members, and that the
process appointing more Members is underway to ease the working of the
Tribunal. He has also apprised the fact that despite the acute shortage
of Members, the Tribunal has achieved a target of more than 104%. He
also mentioned the necessity of the Benches at Jammu & Kashmir and
Ladakh. In this regard, he had a discussion with Justice Reddy and it
has been resolved that for the time being, Jurisdictional Benches will
entertain service cases for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Special
Guest, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel, Chief Justice,
High Court of Delhi emphasised the importance of giving a patient
hearing to litigants and counsels. He also said that judgments should be
concise and precise. He said judicial orders should take into account
facts, concerned laws, and decisions given earlier. He congratulated
Chairman CAT, Justice Reddy under whose leadership, during 2019, 104%
disposal of cases has been achieved.
Giving
an overview of the progress made by various CAT benches over the year
in his address, Hon’ble Mr. Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, Chairman,
Central Administrative Tribunal said that the role of civil servants in
the building of a country is phenomenal. Giving an overview of the
history of the Tribunal, he said that over the past 3 and half decades,
successive Chairmen have shaped the Tribunal well and today, we can
proudly say that it is serving the needs of the society, i.e., civil
servants, to a large extent through its 17 Benches serving the needs of
the employees within their respective jurisdictions. He also highlighted
the problem of shortage of Members, as the Tribunal is functioning with
39 as against a full capacity of 66. He congratulated Members for
their hard work and the cooperation of the legal fraternity, advocate
friends, and the Registry. He said that the law is complex and we must
be equipped with the proper knowledge, attitude and approach, to live up
to the expectations of our litigant public. In this behalf, he listed
the three attributes with which the Tribunal identifies itself; (i) hard
work (ii) honesty and (iii) humility.
The vote of Thanks was proposed by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bharat Bhushan, Member (Judicial), CAT, Allahabad Bench.
The
Judicial and Administrative Members of CAT deliberated in two technical
sessions on issues related to the work of CAT, including structural and
institutional issues, the functioning of administrative tribunals in
other legal systems, and methodology for the functioning of the
tribunal.
The
technical sessions also deliberated on the identification of measures
to improve the quality of adjudication and rate of disposal, service
condition of Members and infrastructural aspect of the Tribunal’s
Benches. The technical sessions were presided over by Hon’ble Mr.
Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal.
Various
suggestions made by the Members in the technical sessions will be taken
forward in the coming days by CAT in coordination with the Department
of Personnel and Training (DOPT).
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(Release ID: 1603363)
Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB)
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