Jammu: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Jammu bench, has disposed of a record over 15,500 cases in a brief period since its inception in 2020, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday.
This was shared by the Union minister of state for personnel after a meeting he had with CAT Chairman Justice Ranjit More here about the current status and working of the tribunal, tasked with redressing government employees’ service matters.
The meeting focused specifically on the infrastructural setup, manning position and institution/disposal of cases by the bench in Jammu, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, an official statement said.
“The Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu bench has achieved a record of sorts by disposing of as many as 15,537 cases in a brief period since its inception in 2020 during the height of Covid pandemic,” the minister was quoted as having said in the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.
The tribunal’s bench was established on June 8, 2020, with one Division bench, which later on was increased to two Division benches on January 10, 2023 by the central government, after considering the transfer of large number of long pending cases from the J&K High Court to the tribunal, the statement said.
As of now, both the Division benches in Jammu comprising two Judicial members and two administrative members are functioning with full strength.
Since the inception of the Jammu bench, the total number of cases transferred from the high court are 11,792, out of which 9,275 have already been disposed of, including cases pending for years, the statement said.
In addition, 8,745 cases have been freshly instituted in CAT, Jammu bench since inception and out of this, 6,262 cases have already been disposed of, it said.
“This means that a total of 15,537 cases have been disposed of by the CAT, Jammu bench since inception,” the statement said.
The infrastructure of the CAT Jammu bench has been enhanced through the joint efforts of the Union government and the government of Union Territory of J&K.
A new building, equipped with adequate amenities, is expected to be functional by the end of this month, it 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,” Singh said.
