Kejriwal bungalow renovation row: HC allows PWD officials to raise grievance with Central Administrative Tribunalw must deepen cooperation: China foreign minister
The Delhi High Court Thursday granted six PWD officials the liberty to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against issuance of show cause notices to them over alleged “gross violation” of rules in the renovation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula disposed of an appeal by the Delhi government’s Directorate of Vigilance and Special Secretary (Vigilance) challenging a single judge bench order of no coercive action against the PWD officials who were issued show cause notices.
The high court relied on a judgment of the constitution bench of the Supreme Court and said it is very clear that in respect of a service dispute, an application has to be preferred under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act at the first instance.
Therefore, the writ petition by the PWD officials before the single judge was not at all maintainable and it should have been dismissed at the threshold, the division bench said.
It said, “The fact remains that the Constitution bench… has arrived at a conclusion that the tribunals will continue to act like courts of first instance in respect of the areas of law for which they have been constituted. It is not, therefore, open for litigants to directly approach the high courts even in cases where they question the vires of statutory legislations (except where the legislation which creates that particular tribunal is challenged) by overlooking the jurisdiction of the tribunal concerned.
