Govt may okay amendments in Administrative Tribunals Act

The Centre is likely to give its nod to changes in a bill aimed at making sitting and retired Supreme Court judges and high court chief justices eligible for chairmanship of Central Administrative Tribunal entrusted with resolving service matters of government employees.

The Administrative Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2012, which will be taken up for consideration by Union Cabinet tomorrow, also envisages to raise salaries and other benefits of the chairman of the tribunal on same terms as of a Supreme Court judge or the chief justice of a high court.

Other members shall be eligible to the benefits that are applicable to a high court judge, the draft amendment bill says.

The draft legislation 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.