Patna, May 14: Bihar Governor Devanand Konwar today lauded the efforts of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Patna bench for quick disposal of cases, whereas judges from the Supreme Court however, cautioned the tribunal to impose a cost if any of the parties try to protract the cases.

CAT, established in November 1985 at Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Allahabad, was set up to adjudicate the disputes with respect to recruitment and service conditions of central government employees and other 200 institutions notified to be brought under its fold a few years back.

Inaugurating the silver jubilee celebration of CAT, Patna by lighting the lamp, Konwar said: “I have noticed whether in Guwahati or in Patna, they (the administrative tribunals) are working quite fine and doing well. Around 24,000 cases have been registered with the Patna bench of CAT and the disposal rate is 96 per cent which is good.”

Saying that India is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-language and a multi-racial country, Konwar said: “There must be inclusive social justice without which fundamental rights would be eroded. It has been 64 years since Independence, which is enough time to have a review of the constitution.

Justice A.K. Ganguly of the apex court said CAT plays an important role in bringing down pending cases and so the high court should be slow and circumspect while interfering with the findings of the tribunal. “The high court is getting clogged with cases and that’s why it was set up for providing speedy disposal,” Ganguly said, while adding that valid safeguards to employees must be provided before punishment.

Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra said: “Parties should try to resolve the dispute at the departmental level so that employees do not approach the tribunals. And if it is found that any of the party is protracting the case, then the tribunal should hammer with a heavy cost.”

“How do we increase the tribunal’s efficiency while lowering the burden on high court and Supreme Court? The tribunal should be working in a faster, speedier and reasonable way, particularly when the tribunal was set up to decrease the workload of the high court,” Justice Mishra said.