The Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
19. Applications to Tribunals. -
(1) Subject to the other provisions of this
Act, a person aggrieved by any order pertaining to any matter within the
jurisdiction of a Tribunal may make an application to the Tribunal for the
redressal of his grievance.
Explanation :
For the purpose of this
sub-section, "order" means an order made -
(a) by the Government or a local or other
authority within the territory of India or under the control of the Government
of India or by any corporation or society owned or controlled by the
Government; or
(b) by an officer, committee or other body or
agency of the Government or a local or other authority or corporation or
society referred to in clause (a).
(2) Every application under sub-section (1)
shall be in such form and be accompanied by such documents or other evidence
and by such fee (if any, not exceeding one hundred rupees) in respect of the
filing of such application and by such other fees for the service or execution
of processes, as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
(3) On receipt of an application under
sub-section (1), the Tribunal shall, if satisfied after such inquiry as it may
deem necessary, that the application is a fit case for adjudication or trial by
it, admit such application; but where the Tribunal is not so satisfied, it may
summarily reject the application after recording its reasons.
(4) Where an application has been admitted by
a Tribunal under sub-section (3), every proceeding under the relevant service
rules as to redressal of grievances in relation to the subject-matter of such
application pending immediately before such admission shall abate and save as
otherwise direct by the Tribunal, no appeal or representation in relation to
such matter shall thereafter be entertained under such rules.
Comments: It is settled law that the Tribunal
has only power of judicial review of the administrative action of the appellant
on complaints relating to service conditions of employees. It is the exclusive
domain of the disciplinary authority to consider the evidence on record and to
record findings whether the charge has been proved or not. It is equally
settled law that technical rules of evidence has no application for the
disciplinary proceedings and the authority is to consider the material on
record. In judicial review, it is settled law that the Court or the Tribunal
has no power to trench on the jurisdiction to appreciate the evidence and to
arrive at its own conclusion. State of T.N. v. S. Subramaniam, AIR 1996
SUPREME COURT 1232