OFFICIAL LANGUAGE COMMISSION
Article 344 states that at the
expiration of 5 years form the commencement of this Constitution and
later after 10 years from such commencement the President shall appoint a
commission. The Commission will consist of a chairman and members
representing different languages specified in the 8th Schedule.
The duties of the commission will be to make recommendations to the president as to:
(a) The progressive use of the Hindi language
(b)Restrictions on the use of English language
(c)The language to be used for the purposes mentioned in Art. 348
(d)The form of numerals
(e)Any other matter that may be referred to the Commission by the President.
The Official Language Commission constituted in 1955 felt that the
Central Government should take concrete steps for its employees to learn
and become proficient in Hindi. Under opposition from various groups,
it was decided to replace English by Hindi progressively and not
suddenly.
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL (CAT)
CAT was set up in pursuance of the amendment of Constitution of India by Articles 323A (1976) which
empowers the Parliament to set up Tribunals for dealing with disputes
and complaints with respect to recruitment and conditions of service of
persons appointed to service and posts connected with the Union of
India. It is one of the important steps taken in the direction of
development of Administrative Law in India. Even before Article 323-A
was enacted tribunals existed in various areas and their existence was
recognized by the Constitution, but they were not intended to be an
exclusive forum, and therefore, they were subject to judicial review by
the High Courts under Articles 226 and 227. Distinct from this existing tribunal system, a new experiment has been introduced by Article 323-A which provides for exclusion of the jurisdiction of the High Courts under Articles 226 and 227,
notwithstanding any other provisions in the Constitution. The object of
this experiment is to lessen the backlog of cases pending before the
High Courts and to provide an expert and expeditious forum for disposal
of disputes of Government servants relating to service matters.
Administrative Tribunals were established
at Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Allahabad. Today, there are 17 Benches of
the Tribunal located throughout the country wherever the seat of a High
Court is located, with 33 Division Benches. In addition, circuit
sittings are held at Nagpur, Goa, Aurangabad, Jammu, Shimla, Indore,
Gwalior, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Pondicherry, Gangtok, Port Blair, Shillong,
Agartala, Kohima, Imphal, Itanagar, Aizwal and Nainital.
Constitution of CAT
A
Chairman who has been a sitting or retire Judge of a High Court heads
the Central Administrative Tribunal. Besides the Chairman, the
authorized strength consists of 16 Vice Chairmen and 49 Members.Jurisdiction.In
addition to Central Government employees, the Government of India has
notified other organizations to bring them within the jurisdiction of
the Central Administrative Tribunal.The provisions of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
do not, however, apply to members of paramilitary forces, armed forces
of the Union, officers or employees of the Supreme Court, or to persons
appointed to the Secretariat Staff of either House of Parliament or the
Secretariat staff of State/ Union Territory Legislatures.
Application :
A
person aggrieved by any administrative order pertaining to any matter
can make an application to CAT for redressal of his grievances. The
jurisdiction of the Tribunal extends not only to the actual employment
but also to the process of recruitment also. An application is not to be
admitted unless the applicant has exhausted all remedies available to
him under the service rules. However this rule is not absolute and CAT
may entertain an application in extraordinary circumstances. A person is
deemed to have availed of all the remedies available to him if a formal
order has been made by the Government or other authority or the officer
concerned rejecting the appeal or representation of the employee. OR
Where no final orders passed by such authority even after 6 months from
the date of the appeal or representation.
Procedure of justice :
The Tribunal is not bound to follow the procedures laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure 1908
or Evidence Act, but shall be guided by the principles of natural
justice in deciding cases and the procedure. The Central Administrative
Tribunal is empowered to prescribe its own rules of practice for
discharging its functions subject to the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 and Rules made there under. For this purpose, the Central Administrative Tribunal Rules of Practice, 1993 have
been made. Parties to the dispute may appear in person or be
represented by a lawyer before the Tribunal. The Supreme Court has held
in a case that the CAT must confine itself to the limits of judicial
review. No interim orders, whether by way of injunction or stay shall be
made on an application unless copy of the application along with other
documents are furnished to the party against whom such application is
made and opportunity is given to such party to be heard in the matter.
However ex-parte interim orders can be issued in exceptional cases valid for 14 days.
In this case the administration should approach CAT within 14 days to
put across their point of view and try for vacation of such interim stay
orders.
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