Kerala State Administrative Tribunal

Introduction

The Kerala State Administrative Tribunal was set up in the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of Section 4 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, by a notification published by the Government of India. The Kerala State Administrative Tribunal came into existence with effect from 26.08.2010, with the issuance of notification dated 25.08.2010 by the Government of India and the appointment of Sri.K.Balakrishnan Nair as its Chairman by the President of India. The Government of India also declared August 26, 2010, as the "appointed day of" of Kerala State Administrative Tribunal within the meaning of Clause (c) of Section 3 of the said Act by publishing notification bearing no.G.S.R.705(E) dated 25.8.2010 in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) Part II.

Legislative Framework

Jurisdiction:

Consequent to the notification issued by the Central Government, under section 4(2) of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 the jurisdiction of the Hon'ble High Court to deal with the service matters of the Government employees ceased to exist. Therefore, having regard to the enormity of the workload, it was felt that the tribunal could be an effective substitute for the High Court only if there were three benches to adjudicate the matters. Given the above, the strength of the members of the Tribunal was enhanced from three to six to create three benches, each having one Judicial Member and one Administrative Member, out of which two benches are to function at Thiruvananthapuram and one at Ernakulam.

Kerala State Administrative Tribunal was established to take up disputes and complaints concerning recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services under the control of the Government of Kerala or of any Corporation owned or controlled by the Government.

As per Section 15 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 the Administrative Tribunal for a State shall exercise, on and from the appointed day, all the jurisdiction, powers, and authority exercisable immediately before that day by all courts (except the Supreme Court) in relation to-

(a) recruitment, and matters concerning recruitment to any civil service of the State or any civil post under the State;

(b) all service matters concerning a person (not being a person referred to in clause (c) of this sub-section or a member, person, or civilian referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 14) appointed to any civil service of the State or any civil post under the State and about the service of such person in connection with the affairs of the State or of any local or other authority under the control of the State Government or of any corporation owned or controlled by the State Government.

(c) all service matters about service in connection with the affairs of the State concerning a person appointed to any service or post referred to in clause (b), being a person whose services have been placed by any such local or other authority or corporation or other body as is controlled or owned by the State Government at the disposal of the State Government for such appointment.

Section 15(2) of the Act says that the State Government may by notification apply with effect from such date as may be specified in the notification the provisions of sub-section (3) to local or other authorities and corporations or societies controlled or owned by the State Government.

Though the State Government has not issued a notification under Section 15(2) above, by the Decision of the Hon'ble High Court dated 12.3.2013 in WP(C)No.158/2013, the Tribunal began to consider disputes related to Municipal Common Services and Panchayats.

Status of Digitisation

Website:

All information related to the tribunal is available on its main page which is https://www.keralaadministrativetribunal.gov.in/main/home/

E-filing:

The facility of E-filing is available at Kerala State Administrative Tribunal. However, for offline filing, the forms can be downloaded in the links tab. A sample for all types is available as in the first image. An example is given in the second image of Form 5. The interface for e-filing along with e-payment is provided in image 3.

Downloadable Forms

Sample Downloadable Form- Form 5

E-filing

E-cause List:

E-cause list is available on CISKAT, which is the Official Website of Kerala Administrative Tribunal. The user is required to enter the date and select the bench (image 1) for which they want an e-cause list (image 2). The cause list contains the case name, number, and parties involved along with the advocates representing the parties. However, the interface can be improved by mentioning the subject matter and providing links for cases.