DHARMADAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Whether a Judicial Member of the Central Administrative Tribunal, who was appointed in the year 1989 and demitted office in the year 1994, is eligible for the benefit of the judgment in Ramakrishna Raju Vs. Union of India 2014 (2) KLT 218 (SC) and entitled to get the pension refixed reckoning 10 years of bar practice, is the issue which arises for consideration.

(2.) The petitioner was appointed as a Judicial Member of Central Administrative Tribunal on 10.7.1989, while he had been practising as an Advocate since 19.8.1959. The appointment of the Judicial Members of the Central Administrative Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as 'CAT") is governed by section 6 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). At the time of appointment of the petitioner, (prior to the amendment to the Act in 2007) Subsection 3 of Sec. 6 of the Act, which provided for the qualification of Judicial Member read as follows.

(3.) Even after the amendment in 2007, the qualification for those to be appointed from among the members of the Bar or from among the Judicial Officers continues to be the same; that is he should be or should be qualified to be a Judge of the High Court. In other words, for appointment as a Judicial Member of an Administrative Tribunal and for the appointment as a Judge of a High Court, from among members of the Bar, one should have not less than 10 years' practice as an Advocate. Under Sec. 8 of the Act, the term of appointment of a Member is for 5 years which can be extended by another 5 years, provided no member can continue beyond the age of 62 years. By Act 1 of 2007, subsection 3 was added to Sec. 8 by which the conditions of service of the Chairman and Members were made as applicable to the Judges of the High Court. Sec. 10 of the Act empowered the Central Government to make rules governing the conditions of service including pension, gratuity and other retirement benefits of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Members of the Administrative Tribunals. Government framed the Central Administrative Tribunal (salaries and allowances and conditions of service of Chairman, Vice Chairman and Members) Rules, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as '1985 Rules' for short). Rule 8 which deals with pension read as follows: