Title - Appointment plea rejected by Madras bench, HC dismisses petition against transfer

Chennai: The Madras bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has dismissed an application fro­m the general manager of the Integrated Coach Fac­tory (ICF), to constitute a fresh selection committee comprising officials from traffic and accounts of the railway board and conduct a fresh selection for the post of member (technical), Railway Cla­ims Tri­bunal.Dismissing the petition from Abhay Kumar Kha­nna who was working as GM, ICF, the bench comprising judicial member K. Elango and administrative member Naresh Gupta held that CAT has no jurisdiction and competence over the issue.Advocate A. Abdul Ajees, counsel for the petitioner, contended that Abhay Kumar Khanna had app­lied for the post of member (technical), in the Railway Claims Tribunal in res­ponse to an advertisement dated January 31, 2013 and attended an interview on April 13, 2013.The selection committee was not constituted as per law. On May 23, 2013, he submitted a representation to the ministry of railways. As there was no response, the official filed this petition.

P. Srinivasan, senior standing counsel for railways, argued that CAT has no jurisdiction to decide the issue and prayed for dismissal of the petition.

Citing a judgment of the HC  where it was observed that the selection of a member (judicial) of the Railway Claims Tribunal was governed by the provisions of the Railway Claims Act, Srinivasan said CAT cannot go into the aspects of appointment of a person to the bench of another tribunal, also governed by a similar enactment. The Railway Claims Tribunal was on the same footing as that of CAT, he added.

Concurring, the bench dismissed the application.