A person who has completed ten years as a Member of Tribunal is ineligible to be re-appointed as Member even if he has not attained 65 years of age – SC

Shanker Raju Vs UOI (Supreme Court) – CAT – Appointment of Member – A person who has completed ten years as a Member of Tribunal is ineligible to be re-appointed as Member even if he has not attained 65 years of age – Plain reading of proviso to sec. 10A makes it clear that the Chairman and Members appointed prior to Amending Act of 2006, on completion of either their term of service or on attainment of 65 years in the case of Chairman or 62 years in the case of Members of the Tribunal, whichever is earlier, may be considered for fresh appointment – Proviso to sec. 10A provides that such fresh appointment could be made only when the criteria prescribed under amended sec. 8 is satisfied and it is further subject to the condition that the total term of office of the Chairman shall not exceed 5 years and that of a Member, ten years.

Shanker Raju Vs. Union of India

H.L. Dattu, J.

1. Since the petitioner purports to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, it is necessary to note the relevant facts and reliefs sought for in the petition.

2. The material facts which are essential to mention are very few and they lie within a narrow compass. Shri Shanker Raju, the petitioner, was appointed as a Judicial Member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (in short, “the Tribunal”) on 10.12.2000. After completion of his five-year term, he was reappointed for another term of five years and was due to complete his second term of five years on09.12.2010. In April, 2010, in response to an advertisement issued by the respondent regarding vacancies of Members in the Tribunal, Principal Bench, Delhi, he made application for the post of Judicial Member of the Tribunal, the post which he had held for nine and a half years at the time of making application. Though the petitioner was eligible for the appointment in terms of his qualification, the respondent refused to consider his claim for appointment for the vacancy, for the reason that the petitioner would complete his second term of 5 years on 09.12.2010 as a Judicial Member of the Tribunal vide the impugned communication dated 12-08-2010. The main premise of the petitioner’s challenge of the said communication is that after completion of a tenure of 10 years, he is eligible to apply for the post afresh and must be considered on merits for his appointment as a Member of the Tribunal and should not be disqualified for appointment merely because he has completed 10 years in that office. The petitioner seeks appropriate writ from this Court mainly in respect of the communication dated 12.08.2010 and for a direction to the respondent to consider his case for appointment to the post of Member(J) in Tribunal advertised vide D.O. No.A1103/9/2010-AT dated 20.04.2010 on its own merit sans eligibility.

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