HC stays appointment of RCT's technical member

The Madras High Court today stayed the appointment of a technical member in the Ernakulam bench of the Railway Claims Tribunal.
A division bench of justices S Manikumar and M Govindaraj stayed the appointment in an interim order on a petition by Southern Railway Mazdoor Union's Assistant General Secretary G Eswar Lal.
Admitting the petition, the bench also issued notices to the Railway Board chairman and various other Central authorities.
The matter relates to the appointment of Ajeet Kumar Saxena by the Appointments Committee through an order dated March 22.
The petitioner submitted that as per section 5(4) of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, a person is not qualified for the appointment as technical member of the tribunal unless he has held for 3 years a post under the Railway administration with a pay scale not less than that of a joint secretary to the Government of India.

He also alleged Saxena was facing two criminal cases before two different authorities and said it was strange that he was selected to the post by the Committee, even as he is due for superannuation on March 31 from his position as the chief commercial manager of Southern Railway.

The petitioner also sought court's order to declare Saxena's appointment as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional.
When the matter came up for the hearing today, the bench declined to accept the argument of the counsel for the Railways and the Railway Board that the petition was not maintainable in service matters.
Referring to the apex court's judgements, it said, "The judgments of the Supreme Court prima facie indicate that the matters relating to the judicial forums, transparency, public accountability, integrity and competency assume significance and prima facie it is for the institutional requirements."

"In the case on hand, as rightly contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner, appointment of a technical member is for the tribunal, which exercises judicial functions... Saxena has been arraigned as an accused on the file of XVI Metropolitan Magistrate Court," it observed.
"We therefore deem it fit to pass the order of interim stay of the operation of all further proceedings pursuant to the order of appointment," the bench said and posted the matter after three weeks.