BHUBANESWAR: Even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said there is no necessity to withdraw the State Government’s decision to abolish the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), no decision has so far been taken to accommodate employees of the tribunal in other establishments.
In written replies to two questions from Dilip Ray (BJP), Minister of State for Law Arun Kumar Sahu has said a decision on the future of employees working in the Government lawyer’s office and lawyers in Government panel will be taken at the time of implementation of the decision to abolish the tribunal.
Replying to a question from Ray as to whether the State Government will withdraw its decision to abolish SAT as the Centre and High Court did not agree to it, the CM said the necessity to withdraw the decision is yet to be felt.
The State Government had decided to abolish SAT on September 9, 2015. The jurisdiction of SAT was same as that of the High Court. However, the CM said the State Government decided to abolish SAT basing on the Supreme Court’s order on L Chandrakumar case which stated that the aim behind establishment of the tribunal has not been fulfilled.
The State Government has informed about its decision to the Centre which is under consideration, he said.
The CM said the opinion of the High Court has been sought on where to accommodate the judges and employees of SAT after its abolition. He said 38,110 cases, 382 transferred cases and 27,133 other cases are pending adjudication in the SAT.