The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Jammu branch 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.

This was disclosed by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh after he was briefed by CAT Chairman Justice Ranjit More, about the current status and working of the Tribunal.

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The meeting focused specifically towards the infrastructural setup, manning position and disposal of cases in the recently created Bench in the city of Jammu, Union Territory of J&K.

Dr Jitendra Singh, credited the continued support and guidance provided by the Union Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He emphasised 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 8 June 2020, during the peak Corona period with one Division Bench, which later on was increased to two Division Benches on 10 January 2023, after considering the transfer of large number of long pending cases from the 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 two Judicial Members and as many Administrative Members are functioning with full strength. Since the inception of the Jammu Bench, the total number of cases transferred from the High Court of J&K are 11,792, including 9,275 already disposed of cases which have been pending for years.

In addition to these, 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. This means that a total of 15,537 cases have been disposed of by the CAT, Jammu Bench since inception.

Dr Jitendra Singh also informed that the circuit sitting of CAT, Jammu Bench at Leh was also started on 19 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”.