Alka Verma –
Published On: September 16, 2021, at 09:55 IST
The Supreme Court of India issued a notice regarding a Special Leave Petition filed by Orissa Administrative Tribunal Bar Association related to Orissa High Court’s judgement, in which the High Court upheld a direction to demolish Odisha Administrative Tribunal (“OAT ”).
The direction was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training of the Central Government.
The Orissa Administrative Tribunal Bar Association challenged the High Court Judgement in Apex Court.
The Petition filed by the Association stated that the Central Government issued the notice to abolish OAK by citing Section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (GCA), but on the other hand, the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 (AT Act) which is the parent Act, restrict such use of power.
“In the present case, the Centre could not invoke Section 21 of GCA to do indirectly that which was prohibited to be done directly under the AT Act, and by upholding the illegal and arbitrary decision of the government, the impugned judgment is liable to be set aside,” stated the Petition.
The petition was filed by Advocate Ashok Panigrahi and drawn by Advocates Geetanjali and Vinay Ratnakar and it also stated, “Since the power of the Central Government to establish and notify an administrative tribunal flows from an enabling provision legislated by the Parliament, the power for abolishing an administrative tribunal must flow from the legislation as well.”
The Court remarked that “It is a question of law which needs to be decided.”
A three-Judge Bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai also agreed on issuing notice to the Centre and they also sought for a response within 8 weeks.
Earlier, when they approached Orissa High Court, the Court dismissed the Petition stating that the action related to OAT is an administrative action and no bar on State and Central Government should overrule the order to abolish OAT.
For now, the matter is adjourned and it will be heard again after 8 weeks.
Click here to read/download the Order
Also Read: Orissa HC upholds Centres notification about dissolving Orissa Administrative Tribunal