Gujarat HC orders inquiry against CAT judge

The Gujarat High Court today asked the Union government to initiate preliminary scrutiny of complaints against the judicial member of the Ahmedabad bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), M Nagarajan.
Disposing of two petitions against Nagarajan, the bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi asked the Centre to complete the scrutiny in six weeks.
The court partially allowed the prayers of petitioners Sunita Chaturvedi, a lawyer who appears before the CAT, and Ravindra Parmar, a central government employee.
Chaturvedi had demanded inquiry against Nagarajan under the Administrative Tribunal Act for alleged "misconduct" and "incompetence".

Nagarajan acted as both the judge and lawyer in certain cases and even adjudicated on petitions drafted by himself, she alleged.
With him as the judicial member, the CAT allegedly passed conflicting orders in similar matters.

Parmar, an employee of All India Radio, had sought Nagarajan's transfer, alleging that he acted with a bias.
Even the President of India had asked the Centre to look into complaints against him in August 2016 but it did not initiate any inquiry, the petitioners alleged.
Among other things, Nagarajan was accused of passing casteist remarks while hearing matters.