By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JAN 08, 2025: THE Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Jammu branch has achieved a record of sorts by disposing off as many as 15,537 number of cases in a brief period since its inception 2020 during the height of Covid pandemic.

This was disclosed by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh after he was briefed by Chairman CAT Justice Ranjit More, Chairman, CAT about the current status and working of the Tribunal.

The meeting focused specifically towards the infrastructural setup, manning position and institution/disposal of cases in the recently created Bench in the city of Jammu, Union Territory of J&K in the backdrop of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 877/2020 titled Achal Sharma Vs Union of India & Ors filed in Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, credited the continued support and guidance provided by the Union Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He emphasized the priority given to the region and the well-being of its government officers and staff, aiming to keep them motivated and contribute to the accelerated development of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal in the city of Jammu was established on 8th June 2020, during the peak corona period with one Division Bench, which later on was increased to two Division Benches on 10th January 2023 by the Central Government, after considering the transfer of large number of long pending cases from the Hon'ble High Court of J&K to the Benches of the Tribunal established in the UT of J&K.

As of now, both the Division Benches in Jammu Bench comprising 2 Judicial Members and 2 Administrative Members are functioning with full strength. Since the inception of the Jammu Bench, the total number of cases transferred from the Hon'ble High Court of J&K are 11792, out of which 9275 have already been disposed of, including cases, which have been pending for years.

In addition to these 8745 cases have been freshly instituted in CAT, Jammu Bench since inception and out of this, 6262 cases have already been disposed of. This means that a total of 15,537 cases has been disposed of by the CAT, Jammu Bench since inception.

Dr. Jitendra Singh also referred to, circuit sitting of CAT, Jammu Bench at Leh was also started on 19th June 2024 in order to facilitate the employees of UT of Ladakh and address their grievances.

The infrastructure of the CAT Jammu Bench has been enhanced through the joint efforts of the Union Government and the Government of UT of J&K. A new building, equipped with adequate amenities, is expected to be functional by the end of this month. Additionally, efforts are being made to build human resource capacity to improve efficiency, as briefed by the chairman.

Lauding the efforts of CAT, Dr. Jitendra Singh said "Despite numerous constraints, the CAT Jammu Bench has been able to maintain satisfactory disposal rate so as to bring comparatively early settlement of grievances of the employees of the Union Territory of J&K. Thus, enabling them to shift their focus in developmental activities of the Union Territory".