New Delhi: The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will soon be covered by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and it will have jurisdiction to handle disputes and other issues related to the UT services there, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday.
CAT so far had jurisdiction only over central services issues in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing the annual conference of CAT, Singh said the tribunal will soon cover the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and will also have jurisdiction to handle disputes and other issues related to the non-central and UT services there.
The Union Minister for the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in due course of time, an exclusive bench of CAT will be set up in Jammu and Kashmir and till then the Chandigarh bench of the tribunal may attend to the service disputes and other cases from the UT.
The Centre on August 5 had abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, bifurcating it into UTs.
Singh also said that very soon more members will be appointed to CAT, adding the process is already on and will be completed soon.
One of the requirements projected by the CAT chairman is vacant posts in the tribunal, which currently has 39 members against the total strength of 66. The government is seriously working to fill the vacant posts, he said.
Singh lauded the working of the CAT, its chairman and its members, and said in spite of increasing workload and the rise in the number of cases with the passage of time, the disposal rate is 100%.
Singh, however, expressed concern over the number of appeals going to High Courts and Supreme Court against the CAT decisions and this, to some extent, defeated the very purpose for which the tribunal had been envisaged.
The conference was presided over by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and attended, among others, by Supreme Court judge NV Ramana, Justice of Delhi High Court Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel, CAT chairman Justice L Narasimha Reddy, among others.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)