CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has imposed restriction on appointment of Judicial Members in 11 benches of the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT).
While issuing notices to the Central Government, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Railways, Railway Board and Registrar of Railway Claims Tribunal (Principal Bench, Delhi), the division bench of Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Biswanath Rath has posted the matter to August 13 for hearing.
In the interim, the Court has directed that appointment on the advertised posts of Judicial Members of the RCT shall remain subject to final outcome of the writ petition and a stipulation to this effect may be inserted in the letter of appointment order of the selected candidates.
The Court has also directed that no further vacancies of Judicial Members be notified for recruitment of the same without prior permission of this Court.
The Railway Ministry through the notification had invited applications for appointment to 15 posts of Judicial Members in RCT benches at Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Ernakulam, Gorakhpur, Guwahati-I, Guwahati-II, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur and Patna. The appointment is governed by the Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2020.
A petition filed in the Orissa High Court challenged exclusion of eligible lawyers from appointment as Judicial Members in 11 benches of the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT).
Three lawyers - Bijay Kumar Sinha, Sambit Das and Niranjan Ojha - filed the petition seeking intervention against the appointment on the advertised posts of Judicial Members pursuant to the notification issued by the Ministry of Railways on May 11, 2020.