THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former High Court judge C K Abdul Rahim has been appointed as the new chairman of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT). The tribunal had been functioning without a regular chairman for the past 11 months.
After the retirement of former chairman T R Ramachandran Nair, the central government had sat over the proposal of the state government to appoint Rahim as the replacement despite his nomination getting ratified by the Supreme Court Chief Justice.
The delay in appointing the chairman had partially stalled the functioning of the tribunal. As per the protocol, the chairman should be a member in the committee that elects the judicial and administrative members. One position of administrative member is vacant, while the two judicial members are continuing on extension on the basis of an interim order of the High Court. The two judicial members, as per the High Court interim order, were allowed to continue till the appointment of the new chairman.
Justice Rahim said the proposal to appoint former IAS officer Pradeep Kumar has been forwarded, while the Kerala Administrative Tribunal Advocates Association (KATAA) has decided to seek a relaxation of the interim order in order to accommodate the judicial members for some more time.
"As of now, we have only one member available. It's not possible to conduct proceedings in the headquarters bench in Thiruvananthapuram and the additional bench in Ernakulam with a chairman and an administrative member alone. If the service period of existing members is extended or their replacements are finalised, the pendency of cases will increase," he said.
Indian Association of Lawyers Kerala Chapter vice-president Vazhuthacaud Narendran, who had approached the High Court for the interim order, welcomed the appointment of the new chairman. "The new chairman is in all aspects a true successor of the former chairman in patience, sympathy and benevolence," he said.