J&K High Court ruled that the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has the jurisdiction over matters concerning recruitment to a civil service or a civil post under the union.
The order was passed on a plea seeking direction to the authorities to promote the petitioners as supervisors who were engaged as anganwadi workers in 2005.
Dealing with the preliminary issue on whether it could hear the plea as court of first instance, or transfer it to CAT Jammu, a bench of justice Ali Muhammad Magrey said: “It transpires from a bare perusal of the recruitment rules that the post of supervisor is a duly sanctioned post borne on a Civil Service of the Union Territory of the J&K and meets all the requirements of being a civil post.
“The position being so, the claim of the petitioners, admittedly, relates to matters concerning recruitment to a civil service or a civil post under the Union,” it said.
The court said: “The word ‘Union’ in terms of Explanation appended under Section 14(1)(c) has reference also to a Union Territory.”
Consequently, the court said, in terms of the mandate of Section 14 of the CAT Act, it is the Tribunal which has the jurisdiction as a court of first instance to exercise all jurisdiction, powers and authority vis-à-vis this petition.
The court transferred the matter to CAT Jammu and directed its Registry to send all the record to the tribunal.