The Hindu : National : States can abolish administrative tribunals: court

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Wednesday, Sep 22, 2004

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States can abolish administrative tribunals: court

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 21. The Supreme Court has held that the States are empowered to abolish the State Administrative Tribunals (SATs), which adjudicate the grievances of government employees. This comes in the wake of many States, including Tamil Nadu, deciding to abolish SATs.

A Bench, comprising the Chief Justice, R.C. Lahoti, and Justice C.K. Thakker, gave this ruling while upholding a decision of the Madhya Pradesh Government to abolish the SAT from July 2001 on the ground that it had become unviable and redundant. It dismissed a batch of petitions filed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court Bar Association and others challenging a judgment of the High Court upholding the Government decision.

The Bench said that in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 323A of the Constitution, Parliament had enacted the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 to adjudicate disputes and complaints relating to recruitment and conditions of service of government employees.

Mr. Justice Thakker, writing the judgment for the Bench, said: "It cannot be said that once a tribunal is constituted, created or established, there is no power either in the Central Government or the State Governments to abolish it." Article 323A was an enabling provision allowing Parliament to make a law to establish administrative tribunals if it wished to do so.

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