Government may okay amendments in Administrative Tribunals Act

NEW DELHI: An official amendment aimed at keeping the minimum eligibility for chairmanship of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) is likely to be considered by the Union Cabinet tomorrow.

The amendment seeks to replace a clause in a Bill, already before Lok Sabha, that provides for appointment of sitting or retired Supreme Court judges and high court chief justices as Chairman of CAT.

The Administrative Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2012, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 27, 2012 by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, V Narayanasamy. In May last year, it was referred to a Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.

The Committee led by Congress' Rajya Sabha MP from Goa Shantaram Naik had submitted its report on December 17, 2012.

The Bill, which seeks to amend the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, also proposed to give power of transfer of a case to other tribunals by a member of the body as it would facilitate speedy disposal of cases.

At present, the power to transfer a pending case from one bench to another bench vests with the chairman of the tribunal only.

The CAT is entrusted with responsibility of resolving service matters of central and state governments employees.