AJIT KUMAR PANDE Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed by the petitioner with the following prayers:-

(2.) It is the case of the petitioner and so contended by him that he was enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi on April 24, 1990. He also cleared the exam for Advocates on Record and was duly enrolled as such on October 15, 1998. On April 20, 2015, the petitioner was appointed to the post of Member (Judicial) Kolkata Bench of Railway Claims Tribunal ('RCT', for short). He joined the said post on April 22, 2015. He continued to work in the Kolkata Bench of the RCT till January 18, 2016. On January 19, 2016, the petitioner was transferred to the Secunderabad Bench of the RCT where he worked till January 19, 2018. Thereafter, on June 10, 2019, he was transferred to the Gauhati Bench of the RCT where he worked till he completed his five years' tenure on April 21, 2020.

(3.) It is the submission of the petitioner that his appointment was governed by the Notification dated September 10, 1989, of the Ministry of Railways by which the Railway Claims Tribunal (Salaries and Allowances and Conditions of Services of Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Members) Rules, 1989 ('Rules of 1989', for short) were notified. He stated that in terms of Sec. 5 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 ('Act of 1987', for short), which stipulates qualifications for appointment as Chairman, Vice-Chairman and other Members; a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Member (Judicial) unless he is, or has been, or is qualified to be a Judge of a High Court. According to him, in view of the said provision, he was selected for the post of Member (Judicial) RCT being found as qualified to be a Judge of a High Court and as per Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the qualifications needed for appointment to the post of a Judge of a High Court, is that one must have at least 10 years of practice as an Advocate. He stated that since the issue of gratuity is pending before the Supreme Court, he is not making a prayer with regard to the said claim.