CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL RULES OF PRACTICE, 1993

CHAPTER I – PRELIMINARY

1. Short title.

These Rules may be called the Central Administrative Tribunal Rules of Practice, 1993.

2. Commencement.

(a) These Rules shall, after their publication in the Official Gazette, come into force on 1st November, 1993.

(b) These Rules shall apply, as far as may be, to all proceedings pending in the Central Administrative Tribunal on the date of their commencement.

CHAPTER II – DEFINITIONS

3. Definitions.

In these Rules, unless there in anything repugnant to the subject or context-

(i) “Address for service” shall mean the address furnished by a party or his authorised agent, or his legal practitioner at which service of summons, notices or other processes may be effected;

(ii) “Application” means and includes Original Application (O.A.), Review Application (R.A), Transferred Application (T.A.), Miscellaneous Application (M.A.) and Petition for Transfer (P.T.);

(iii) “Act” and “Procedure Rules” shall mean the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 (Central Act 13 of 1985) and the Central Administrative Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1987, as amended from time to time;

(iv) “Code” means the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, as amended from time to time;

(v) “Full Bench” means a Bench duly constituted consisting of three or more Members;

(vi) “Legal Practitioner” includes a Standing Counsel authorised to accept the service for any department or organisation of the Central Government/ State Government or any authority, a Corporation, a body owned or controlled by the Central Government/State Government;

(vii) “Pleadings” shall include original applications, reply statement, rejoinders and additional statements supplementing the original applications and the reply statements, as may be permitted by the Tribunal;

(viii) “Vacation Bench” means a Bench duly constituted for discharging the functions of the Tribunal during the vacation;

(ix) Words not defined in these Rules shall have the same meaning as assigned in the Act and the Procedure Rules.

CHAPTER III – PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION OF PLEADINGS AND OTHER PAPERS

4. Preparation of pleadings and other papers.

(a) All pleadings, affidavits, memoranda and other papers filed in the Tribunal shall be fairly and legibly typewritten or printed in English or Hindi language on durable white foolscap folio paper of Metric A-4 size (30.5 cms. long and 21.5 cms. wide) on one side only in double space with a left margin of 5 cms. and right margin of 2.5 cms. duly paginated, indexed and stitched together in the paper- book form. The index shall be in Form No. 1.

(b) English translation of documents/pleadings shall be duly authenticated by any legal practitioner.

5. Date and signature.

A party required to affix his signature shall also state his name in capitals near his signature and initial or sign at the bottom of each page.
Explanation-
The expression ‘signature’ or ‘initial’ includes thumb mark.

6. Attestation.

(a) The attestation contemplated in Rule 9(2) of the Procedure Rules shall be made at the end of the document in the form given below:
“This/Annexure………….is the true copy of the original document.”

(Signature)
Name and Designation of the Attestor with date”.

(b) Sub-rule (a) above shall also govern production of xerox copies of the documents, provided they are clear and legible.

7. Production of authorisation for and on behalf of an Association.

Where an application/pleading or other proceeding purported to be filed is by an Association, the person or persons who sign(s)/verify(ies) the same shall produce along with such application, etc, for verification by the Registry, a true copy of the resolution of the Association empowering such person(s) to do so:
Provided the Registrar may at any time call upon the party to produce such further materials as he deems fit for satisfying himself about due authorisation.

8. Procedure on production of defaced, torn or damaged documents.

When a document produced along with any pleading appears to be defaced, torn, or in any way damaged or otherwise its condition or appearance requires special notice, a mention regarding its condition and appearance shall be made by the party producing the same in the Index of such a pleading and the same shall be verified and initialled by the officer authorised to receive the same.

9. Receipt of papers.

(a) All pleadings and papers shall be received in the Registry only during the office hours on the working days, provided they are presented or sent in the manner provided in rule 4(1) of the Procedure Rules.

(b) All pleadings and papers received before 3 p.m. in which urgent interim orders are sought, shall ordinarily be processed immediately for being listed before the Bench on the next working day.

10. Date stamping of papers and maintenance of Inward Register.

(a) The receiving branch of the Registry shall immediately on receipt of an application/petition or other pleadings or papers, affix the date-stamp of the Tribunal in the following manner-
(i) Date-stamp shall be affixed on all pages on the main/first copy and on the first page of each other copy.
(ii) Receiving Clerk shall affix his initials on the stamp affixed on the first page of the main/first copy and on the first page of all other copies.

(b) Receiving branch of the Registry shall on affixing the date-stamp, enter the details thereof in the Inward Register, Register No. 1 and assign a Diary Number. The same Diary Number shall be entered immediately below the date-stamp on the first page of the main/first copy and all other copies.

CHAPTER IV – SCRUTINY, REGISTRATION, NUMBER AND POSTING FOR ADMISSION/ORDERS

11. Scrutiny of application/petition/other pleadings and papers.

(a) The Scrutiny Branch of the Registry shall, on receipt of the application/petition pleadings from the receiving branch, scrutinise the same as expeditiously as possible but not beyond two days from the date of receipt:
Provided if, for any reason, the scrutiny is not completed within the above period, the same shall be immediately reported to the Registrar, who shall take prompt steps to complete the scrutiny.

(b) The report of the scrutiny of the application under section 19 of the Act shall be in Form No. 2 and of Contempt Petition (C.P.) (Civil/Criminal) in Form No. 3 and the scrutiny report shall be annexed to the application/petition.

(c) Report of scrutiny of all other pleadings and papers shall be recorded on the reverse side of the last page of such pleadings/papers.

12. Maintenance of Order Sheet.

The Scrutiny Branch shall attach to every OA/RA/TA/PT/CP an order sheet in duplicate in Form No. 4. The column “Notes of the Registry” in the order sheet shall be for the notings by the Registry and the column “Orders of the Tribunal” is meant for the use of the Bench.
Note-
(1) The entries in the order sheet shall be in writing and removal of the order sheet for typing be avoided.

(2) Continuous page number should be given to the order sheet.

(3) Before any entry is made in the order sheet for the day, the date, month and year shall-first be entered and underlined in the middle of the column.

(4) Brief order may be written on the order sheet itself and initialled by the Members of the Bench.

(5) In the case of lengthy orders, only the operative portion of the order need be entered in the column “Orders of the Tribunal” and initialled by the court officer. The orders shall be annexed to the order sheet giving them continuous paging. Reference to the order shall be made by mentioning only page number of the order annexed.

(6) The presence of the legal practitioner/party be indicated by their initials.

(7) No gaps shall be left between two entries in the order sheet. Gaps, if any shall be covered by drawing a line across.

13. Classification of papers.

(a) The papers received in the Registry in all applications and C.Ps. except Miscellaneous Applications, shall be classified and placed in files ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ as provided in Form No. 5.

(b) “A” File shall consist of two separate parts. Part-I shall contain the order sheet and orders annexed thereto. Part-II shall contain the application with annexures, reply with annexures and rejoinder with annexures and arrange as far as possible consecutively in the order of the parties.

(d) “C” File shall contain the remaining papers including Vakalatnama, notices, postal acknowledgments, Miscellaneous Applications, Replies and Rejoinders thereto and Supreme Court orders etc. if any.

14. Submission of case files to Registrar.

On completion of the scrutiny, the Scrutiny Branch shall place the case file duly classified as “A”, “B” and “C” along with the report of scrutiny and the order sheet before the Registrar for his orders.

15. Registration and Numbering.

(a) The Registrar on examining the application/pleadings and the scrutiny report shall, if they are in order, direct registration/acceptance.

(b) Applications under section 19 of the Act ordered to be registered shall be numbered as O.A. No……………………/20…….

Explanation-
Applications received from the Supreme Court, High Courts and other courts purporting to be by transfer but not covered by section 29 of the Act shall be numbered as Original Applications of the year during which they are received,

(d) Applications for review of any order of the Tribunal ordered to be registered shall be numbered as R.A. No…………………./20………..

(e) Petitions under the Contempt of Courts Act ordered to be registered, shall be numbered as C.P. (Civil/Criminal) No. ………………../20……..

(f) Applications under section 25 of the Act ordered to be registered shall be numbered as P.T. No………………../20……..

(g) Other applications of Miscellaneous nature not covered by sub-rules (b) to (f) above, ordered to be registered shall be numbered as M.A. No…………../20……..

(h) Applications/petitions referred to in this rule shall be entered in Register No. 2. Separate registers shall be used for each category of applications/ petition referred to in this rule. The Registers shall be maintained from 1st January to 31st December of each calendar year.

16. Maintenance of I.P.Os./D.Ds. Register.

(a) I.P.Os./D.Ds. received in the Registry shall be entered immediately on their receipt in the Judicial Branch in Register No. 3.

(b) On every first working day of the week, the I.P.Os. D.Ds. received by the Judicial Branch during the previous week shall be transmitted along with the I.P.Os./D.Ds. Register to the Section Officer incharge of Judicial Branch, who after scrutiny shall affix his initials in the relevant column in the Register and transmit the same to the Cash Section. The official incharge of Cash Section shall, after verifying the entries in the Register alongwith the I.P.Os./D.Ds. put his initials in the relevant column in the Register in token of acknowledgment.

17. Rectification of defects.

(a) If on scrutiny any application or pleading filed in the Tribunal is found to be defective, the Registrar shall notify in Form No. 6 on the Notice Board of the Tribunal fixing the time for rectifying the same.

(b) The papers shall be returned to the party or his legal practitioner only after obtaining acknowledgment thereof in the Inward Register.

(c) The Registrar may, for good and sufficient reasons extend the time for rectifying the defects, provided the total period for rectification including the extended period does not exceed thirty days.

(d) If the party or his legal practitioner contests the office objection and the Registrar is not satisfied the matter shall be placed before the Bench for appropriate orders.

(e) If the party/legal practitioner rectifies the defects and represents the application/pleading within the time granted, the Registrar on being satisfied may order for its registration/acceptance and numbering as provided in rule 15.

18. Posting of cases for admission/orders before the Bench.

(a) Subject to the orders of the Chairman/Vice-Chairman of the concerned Bench, all registered applications/petitions shall be posted for admission/orders before the appropriate Bench on the next working day. The notice of posting shall be given by notifying in the daily cause list for the day.

(b) Before placing the records of the case for admission/order, the Registry shall state in brief in the column “Notes of the Registry” of the Order Sheet, the date of presentation and registration, the subject matter of the application and the date of posting before the Bench and fill up the columns in file covers “A” and “B”.

(c) The category of cases specified in Appendix I to these Rules as may be amended by the Chairman from time to time, may as far as possible be posted before the Single Member Bench and dealt with in accordance with the procedure prescribed therein.

(d) The constitution of Benches and distribution of work shall be as per the orders/directions given in Appendix II to these Rules, as may be modified by the Chairman from time to time.

19. Posting of urgent cases.

(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 18, the Chairman/Vice-Chairman and in his absence the senior-most Member of the Bench may order any case not included in the daily cause list to be listed on urgent basis for admission/orders. Such directions shall be promptly carried out by the Registry after completing all the formalities.

(b) When a Division Bench is not available, urgent cases for admission and interim orders may be posted before a Single Member Bench who shall deal with the same in accordance with the order of the Chairman as in Appendix III as may be amended from time to time.

20. Matters to be attended to prior to commencement of sitting.

(a) Unless otherwise directed by the Members constituting the Bench, the court officer shall ensure that records of the cases listed for admission/orders before the Bench on the next working day are sent to the residence of the Members before the evening of the day on which the cause list is published.

(b) The Court Officer shall ensure that the case records so sent to the residence of the Members are brought back to the concerned court Hall before the commencement of the court sitting. The Court Officer shall verify the case records listed for the day and arrange them in the serial order as given in the cause list well before the commencement of the sitting.

(c) The Court Officer of the Bench concerned shall ensure that the Court Hall is ready for commencement of the sitting at the prescribed time for such sitting.

(d) If for any reason, the Bench cannot sit or the sitting is delayed, the Registrar shall promptly obtain the orders of the Chairman/Vice-Chairman and notify the same on the Notice Board and in the Court Hall through the Court Officer.

21. Maintenance of Court Diary.

(a) The Court Officer of the Bench concerned shall maintain legibly a court diary in Register No. 4, wherein he shall record the proceedings of the court for each sitting day with respect to the applications/petitions listed in the daily cause list.

(b) The matters to be recorded in the court diary shall include details as to whether the case is adjourned, or part-heard or heard and disposed of or heard and orders reserved, as the case may be.

22. Statutes/Citations for reference.

The parties/legal practitioners shall before the commencement of the proceedings for the day, furnish to the court officer a list of law journals, reports, statutes and other citations, which may be needed for reference.

23. Calling of cases in court.

Subject to the orders of the Bench, the court officer shall call the cases listed in the cause list in the serial order.

24. Regulation of court work.

(a) When the Court is sitting, the court officer shall ensure—
(i) that no inconvenience or wastage of time is caused to the Bench in making available the services of court master/Stenographer/Peon;
(ii) that perfect silence is maintained in and around the court hall and no disturbance whatsoever is caused to the functioning of the Bench;
(iii) that proper care is taken to maintain dignity and decorum of the court.

(b) When the Bench passes order directions, the court officer shall ensure that the records of the case along with proceedings/orders of the Bench are transmitted immediately to the Judicial Branch. The Judicial Branch shall verify the case records received from the court officer with reference to the cause list and take immediate step to communicate the directions/orders of the Bench.

CHAPTER V – SERVICE OF NOTICE

25. Issue of Notice.

(a) Unless otherwise ordered by the Tribunal, when notice is ordered, the applicant shall, in cases governed by rule 11(6) of the Procedure Rules, pay the prescribed fee for service of notice accompanied by a memo in Form No. 7 within seven days from the date of order. In default, no notice shall be issued to any of the respondents and the matter shall be placed immediately before the Bench for appropriate orders.

(b) Where the notice is returned to the Tribunal with an endorsement of the postman regarding non-service owing to refusal of the same by the party concerned, the Registrar shall declare that the notice has been duly served on the respondent.

(c) Where the notice was properly addressed prepaid and duly sent by registered post, acknowledgment due, the declaration referred to in sub-rule (b) shall be made when for any reason the acknowledgment is not received by the Tribunal within thirty days from the date of the issue of the notice.

26. Step for issue of fresh notice.

If any notice is returned unserved in the circumstances not specified in sub-rules (b) and (c) of rule 25, that fact and the reason therefor shall be notified immediately on the notice board of the Registry. The applicant/petitioner or his Legal Practitioner shall within seven days from the date of such notification take steps for service of notice.

27. Consequence of failure to take steps for issue of fresh notice.

If the applicant/petitioner fails to take necessary steps in the time for service of notice on the respondent(s) and consequently, the service remains incomplete, the Registrar shall post the case before the Bench for further directions.

28. Service of notice etc. on Legal Practitioners.

A Legal Practitioner representing a party in any proceeding and any person authorised to accept notices on behalf of a party, shall receive notices, orders, directions, pleadings, etc. required to be served on such party in connection with such proceedings. Such service shall be deemed to be proper service on the party.

29. Form of Notice.

Notice to show cause regarding admission shall be in Form No. 8. Notice ordered after admission shall be in Form No. 9.

30. Entries regarding service of notice/process.

The Judicial Branch of the Registry shall record in the column in the order sheet “Notes of the Registry”, the details regarding completion of service of notice on the respondents, such as date of issue of notice, date of service, date of return of notice if unserved, steps taken for issuing fresh notice and date of completion of service, etc.

CHAPTER VI – FILING OF REPLY STATEMENT/REJOINDER

31. Case deemed to be ready on failure to file reply in time.

When all or any of the respondent(s) fail(s) to file reply statement in the form and in the manner provided under rule 12 of the Procedure Rule within the time granted, the case shall be deemed to be ready for hearing and included in the ready list for final hearing.

32. Filing of rejoinder.

(a) The applicant(s) intending to file rejoinder to the reply statement filed by all or any of the respondent(s) shall do so, with the leave of the Bench/Registrar within the time granted. The rejoinder shall be filed with the time granted, duly signed and verified in the manner prescribed for filing reply statement under rule 12 of the Procedure Rules.

(b) After the expiry of the time granted for filing the rejoinder, the case shall be deemed to be ready for hearing and included in the ready list for final hearing.

33. Papers not to form part of the records.

(a) Except with the leave of the Tribunal, the following shall not form part of the records of the case:—
(i) Reply statement filed after the expiry of the time granted for the purpose.
(ii) Rejoinder filed without the leave of the court or filed after the expiry of the time granted.
(iii) Additional pleadings filed without the leave of the court or filed after the expiry of the time granted.

(b) The above papers treated as not forming part of the record shall be notified on the Notice Board of the Registry requiring the party of take them back within four weeks from the date of the Notification, failing which the Registry shall take steps to destroy the same.

34. Incorporation of amendments, filing of additional reply, etc.

When the Tribunal allows a prayer for a amendment of the pleadings or for addition of parties, the same shall be carried out in red ink indicating the date of the order and duly signed by the party/legal practitioner, who has obtained the order, within the time granted for the purpose by the order or if no time is thereby limited then, within 14 days from the date of the order. If however, the Bench or the Tribunal has directed furnishing of a fresh copy incorporating the amendments/addition of parties, the same shall be filed in triplicate and after serving a copy of the amended pleading on the other party within the time granted by the court or if no time is granted with 14 days from the date of the order. In default, the Registry shall place the matter before the Bench for orders.

CHAPTER VII – PROCEEDINGS BEFORE REGISTRAR’S COURT

35. Matters to be listed before the Registrar’s court.

Once an application/petition is admitted and notice ordered, the same shall be posted before the Registrar for completion of pleadings.

36. Cause List for Registrar’s court.

Cases required to be dealt with by the Registrar shall be notified in a separate Daily Cause List. The cases so notified shall be taken up in the Registrar’s court in the serial order as indicated in the cause list.

37. Recording of proceedings.

On hearing the parties/their Legal Practitioners and on pursuing the records the Registrar may record his decisions in the column “Notes of the Registry” in the order sheet and put his initials with date.

38. Inclusion of cases in the ready list when pleadings are complete.

If the pleadings are complete or if the case is deemed to be ready for hearing, the Registrar shall record the same in the order sheet and order for inclusion in the list of cases ready for final hearing.

CHAPTER VIII – PREPARATION OF READY LIST, WARNING LIST, DAILY CAUSE LIST AND POSTING OF CASES

39. Maintenance of Ready List.

The Judicial Branch of the Registry shall maintain separate registers in register Form No. 5 for each category of cases which are ready for hearing. The registers shall contain separate sections for each year. Inclusion of cases in the Register shall be year-wise and in the order in which they become ready for hearing.

40. Preparation of Warning List.

(a) From the Ready List, the Registry shall prepare for each category of cases, a separate list called “Warning List” consisting of such number of cases as may be sufficient in the opinion of the Registrar, for being posted for hearing for a period of two weeks.

(b) Cases in the Warning List shall be arranged according to the year and number of registration and not on the basis of their serial number in the Ready List. Oldest among the cases be included first following by the next oldest and so on.

41. Publication of Warning List.

(a) The Judicial Branch of the Registry shall publish the warning list on the Notice Board of the Registry on the last working day previous to the 1st and 15th of every month.

(b) The total number of cases to be included in each Warning List as fixed by the Registrar shall, as far as possible, be maintained by adding at the bottom of the list, such number of cases as are required to make good the deficiency, having regard to the number of cases transferred to the Daily Cause List.

(c) From the Warning List so published, sufficient number of cases shall be taken for inclusion in the Daily Cause List in the order in which they appear in the Warning List, subject to the orders of the Chairman/Vice-Chairman/Bench.

42. Preparation and publication of Daily Cause List.

(a) The Judicial Branch of the Registry shall prepare and publish on the Notice Board of the Registry before 5-30 p.m. on each working day the Cause List for the next working day. Subject to the directions of the Chairman/Vice-Chairman/Bench listing of cases in the Daily Cause List shall be in the following order-
(i) Cases for “Pronouncement of Orders”.
(ii) Cases “For being spoken to”.
(iii) Cases for “Admission”.
(iv) Cases for “Orders/Directions”.
(v) Contempt Petitions.
(vi) Part-heard cases, latest part-heard having precedence.
(vii) Cases posted as per directions of the court.
(viii) Cases from the “Warning List”.

(b) The title of the Daily Cause List shall consist of the name of the Bench, the day, date and time of the court sitting, Court Hall number and the quorum indicating the names of the Chairman/Vice-Chairman/Member constituting the Bench with abbreviations in brackets (J) for Judicial and (A) for Administrative.

(c) Against the number of each case listed in the Warning List and in the Daily Cause List, the following shall be shown-
(i) Names of Legal Practitioners appearing on both sides, giving in brackets the rank of the parties whom they represent.
(ii) Names of the parties, if unrepresented with their ranks in brackets.

(d) Office objections and special directions, if any, shall be briefly indicated in the Daily Cause List below the case number.

43. Carry forward of Cause List and adjournment of cases on account of non- sitting of a Bench.

(a) If by reason of declaration of holiday or for any other reason, the Bench does not function for the day, the Daily Cause List for that day shall unless otherwise directed be treated as the Daily Cause List for the next working day in addition to the cases already posted for that day.

(b) When the sitting of a particular Bench is cancelled for the reason of absence of Member(s) of the Bench, the Registrar shall, unless otherwise directed, adjourn the cases posted before that Bench to a convenient date. The adjournment/posting/directions shall be notified on the Notice Board.

44. Supply of Cause List.

(a) Two copies of fortnightly Warning List and Daily Cause List shall be furnished to the Advocates/Bar Association of Central Administrative Tribunal for publication on their Notice Board.

(b) Copies of the daily cause list may be furnished to the Legal Practitioners on payment of fees at the rate specified below:
(I) Daily Cause List: Per Bench (consisting of two Members) Rs. 240 p.a.
(II) Warning List: Per Bench (consisting of two Members) Rs. 100 p.a.

(c) Application for supply of Warning/Daily Cause List shall be made in writing to the Registrar accompanied by one year’s subscription by way of Demand Draft or Indian Postal Orders drawn in favour of the Registrar of the concerned Bench not less than a week before the date from which supply is to commence.

(d) The rates specified above shall be subject to such modifications as may be made by the Chairman from time to time.

45. Request for adjournments.

Unless the Bench otherwise permits, requests for adjournments of the cases listed in the Daily Cause List shall be entertained only at the beginning of the session.

46. Maintenance of Stage Register and Posting Register.

(a) The Judicial Branch of the Registry shall maintain a Stage Register in Form Register No. 6 for each category of applications/petitions from the stage of first posting till disposal.

(b) Posting Register shall be maintained in Form Register No. 7.

(c) All orders regarding clubbing at cases shall be entered in the order sheets of all the cases required to be clubbed together and posted accordingly.

(d) The Section Officer concerned shall ensure that the aforesaid registers are promptly and properly maintained and the directions of the Bench faithfully carried out.

47. Early hearing of cases.

If early hearing of a case out of turn is required, the party/Legal Practitioner shall make an application stating the reasons therefor in Form No. III of the Procedure Rules, after serving copy thereof to the other parties. The application shall, if in order, be listed before the Chairman or in his absence the Vice-Chairman nominated by him in the case of the Principal Bench and before the Vice-Chairman and in his absence before the senior-most available Member in the case of other Benches.

48. Vacation Bench Sittings and Posting of cases.

(a) When the Tribunal is closed for vacation, the Vacation Bench shall sit on such days as the Chairman in the case of Principal Bench and Vice-Chairman in the case of other Benches and in his absence the senior-most Member available, may specify.

(b) During the vacation only matters which are required to be immediately or promptly dealt with, shall be received in the Registry. The Registrar, on being satisfied about the urgency, shall order registration and posting of such cases.

(c) During the vacation, the Registrar may accept replies, rejoinders to O.As., R.As., etc. provided a copy of the same has been served on all the other parties/Legal Practitioners.

(d) Inspection of records may be permitted during the vacation according to the Rules.

(e) Certified copies may also be supplied during the vacation according to the Rules.

CHAPTER IX – POSTING OF REVIEW APPLICATIONS

49. Posting of Review Applications.

Posting of Review Applications shall be governed by the order made by the Chairman as contained in Appendix IV subject to such modifications as may be made by the Chairman from time to time.

CHAPTER X – FULL BENCH MATTERS

50. Preparation and filing of paper books on reference to the Full Bench.

When a Division Bench of the Tribunal makes an order referring the case/issues to a Full Bench, the applicant or such other party, as the Bench directs shall furnish in Paper Book form duly indexed and continuously paginated three/five sets (depending upon the number of members of the Full Bench) for the use of the Bench and one set to each of the parties/or their legal practitioner on the other side, within two weeks or such other time as the Bench may direct, arranging the papers in the following orders:-
(i) Index
(ii) Written chronology of events/orders relevant to the case.
(iii) Order of Reference.
(iv) Memo of Parties.
(v) Application/Petition.
(vi) Annexures to the application/petition.
(vii) Reply by each respondent in the order of their ranking.
(viii) Annexures at the end of reply of each respondent.
(ix) Rejoinder, if any.
(x) Annexures to Rejoinder, if any.
(xi) Other relevant papers with description and date:
Provided that if the same Legal Practitioner appears for more than one party, only one set of Paper Book need be furnished to him.

51. Circulation of order of Reference to other Benches.

The Registrar of the referring Bench shall send a copy of the order of reference to all the other Benches of the Tribunal for information.

52. Seeking orders of Chairman for constitution of Full Bench and fixing date of hearing.

The Registrar of the Referring Bench shall forward a copy of the Order of Reference to the Registrar of the Principal Bench for securing orders of the Chairman for constitution of the Full Bench and fixing the date of hearing.

53. Conveyance of the orders of the Chairman.

The Registrar of the Principal Bench shall, on receipt of the request as aforesaid obtain the orders of the Chairman and convey the same to the Registrar of the Referring Bench.

54. Notification regarding Full Bench hearing.

The Registrar of the Referring Bench shall, immediately on receipt of orders of the Chairman notify the parties/legal practitioners the date of hearing of the case by the Full Bench.

55. Circulation of Full Bench decision/opinion.

The Registrar of the Referring Bench shall circulate the opinion/decision rendered by the Full Bench to all other Benches of the Tribunal.

CHAPTER XI – INSPECTION OF RECORDS

56. Grant of Inspection.

Inspection of records of a pending or decided case before the Tribunal shall be allowed only under the orders of the Registrar.

57. Application for grant of inspection.

(a) Application for inspection of records as provided under sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) of rule 23 of the Procedure Rules, shall be in Form No 10 and presented at the filing counter of the Registry between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on any working day, two days before the date on which inspection is sought, unless otherwise permitted by the Registrar.

(b) The Judicial Branch of the Registry shall submit the application with its remarks before the Registrar, who shall on consideration of the same pass appropriate orders.

(c) Inspection of records of a pending case shall not ordinarily be permitted on the date fixed for hearing of the case or on the preceding day.

58. Fee payable for Inspection.

(a) No fee shall be charged for inspection of records of a pending case by a party to the case or his legal practitioner.

(b) A fee of Rs. 5 shall be payable by way of DD/IPO drawn in favour of the Registrar on any application for inspection of records of a decided case by a party to the case or his Legal Practitioner.

(c) A fee of Rs. 5 shall be payable by way of a DD/IPO drawn in favour of the Registrar on any application for inspection of records of a pending or decided case by a person other than a party to the case.

59. Mode of Inspection.

(a) On grant of application for inspection of the records, the Section Officer in-charge of the Judicial Branch shall arrange to procedure the records of the case and allow inspection of such records on the date and time fixed by the Registrar between 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. and between 2.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. in the presence of an officer authorised in that behalf.

(b) The person inspecting the records shall not in any manner cause dislocation, mutilation, tampering or damage to the records in the course of inspection.

(c) The person inspecting the records shall not make any marking on any record or paper so inspected. Copying, if any, of the documents/records inspected may be done only in pencil.

(d) The officer supervising the inspection may at any time prohibit further inspection, if in his opinion any of the records are likely to be damaged in the process of inspection or the person inspecting the records has violated or attempted to violate the provisions of these Rules and shall immediately make a report about the matter to the Registrar and seek further orders of the Registrar. Note about the same shall be made in column (8) of the Inspection Register.

60. Maintenance of Register of Inspection.

The Section Officer in-charge of the Judicial Branch shall cause to maintain a Register in Form No. 8 for the purpose of inspection of documents/records and shall obtain therein the signature of the person making such inspection.

CHAPTER XII – LEGAL PRACTITIONERS BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL

61. Appearance of legal practitioners.

Subject as hereinafter provided no legal practitioner shall be entitled to appear and act in any proceedings before the Tribunal unless he files into Tribunal a Vakalatnama in the prescribed form duly executed by or on behalf of the party for whom he appears.

62. Appearance on behalf of Government, etc.

(a) Any legal practitioner appearing on behalf of the Central Government or State Government or any Government servant sued or suing in his official capacity or any authority/corporation/society notified under section 14 of the Act shall not be required to file a Vakalatnama but he shall file into Tribunal a Memo of Appearance in Form No. 11 duly signed by him.

(b) A presenting officer other than a legal practitioner representing any of the parties referred to in sub-rule (a) shall also file a memo of appearance in Form No. 11.

63. Nomination or engagement of another legal practitioner.

Where a legal practitioner who has filed the Vakalatnama engages or nominates another legal practitioner to appear and argue his client’s case but not to act for the client, the Tribunal may permit such other legal practitioner to appear and argue.

64. Consent for engaging another legal practitioner.

A legal practitioner proposing to file a Vakalatnama in any case or proceeding before the Tribunal in which there is already a legal practitioner on record, shall do so only with the written consent of legal practitioner on record or when such consent is refused, with the permission of the Tribunal.

65. Restrictions on appearance.

A legal practitioner who has tendered advice in connection with the institution of any case or other proceeding before the Tribunal or has drawn pleadings in connection with any such matter or has during the progress of any such matter acted for a party, shall not, appear in any case or proceeding or other matter arising therefrom or in any matter connected therewith for any person whose interest is opposed to that of his former client, except with the prior permission of the Tribunal.

66. Access to information.

A legal practitioner appearing for the party in any matter before the Tribunal shall be entitled to communicate personally with or receive any information regarding the said matter from any officer of the Tribunal subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the Tribunal.

67. Form and execution of Vakalatnama.

(a) Every Vakalatnama authorising a legal practitioner to plead and act shall be in Form No. 12. The name of the legal practitioner so appointed shall be inserted in the Vakalatnama before it is executed. It shall be dated at the time of its execution and of its acceptance. Its execution shall be attested by Judicial officer, gazetted officer serving in connection with the affairs of the Union or of any State in India or a legal practitioner other than the legal practitioner accepting the Vakalatnama.

(b) The authority attesting the Vakalatnama under sub-rule (a) shall certify that it has been duly executed in his presence and subscribe his signature giving his name and designation. Attestation shall be made only after the name of the legal practitioner is inserted in the Vakalatnama before its execution. When a Vakalatnama is executed by a party who appears to be illiterate, blind or unacquainted with the language of the Vakalatnama, the attestor shall certify that the Vakalatnama was read, translated and explained in his presence to the executant, that he seemed to understand it and that he signed or affixed his thumb mark in his presence.

(c) Every Vakalatnama shall contain an endorsement of acceptance by the legal practitioner in whose favour it is executed and shall also bear his address for service. If the Vakalatnama is in favour of more than one legal practitioner, it shall be signed and accepted by all of them, giving the address for service of any one of them.

68. Restriction on party’s right to be heard.

The party who has engaged a legal practitioner to appear for him before the Tribunal shall not be entitled to be heard in person unless he withdraws the vakalatnama with the leave of the Tribunal.

69. Professional dress for the Advocate.

While appearing before the Tribunal, the Advocate shall wear the same professional dress as prescribed for appearance before the High Court.

CHAPTER XIII – REGISTERED CLERKS OF LEGAL PRACTITIONERS

70. Prohibition of employment of tout.

No legal practitioner shall employ as his clerk any person who is a tout.
Explanation-
“Tout” means a person who procures or attempts to procure for any consideration from any legal practitioner or from any person acting on his behalf, the employment of such legal practitioner in any legal business, or who, for purposes of such procurement, frequents the precincts of the Tribunal.

71. Disqualification for registration of clerks.

No person who is or has been declared a tout or is an undischarged insolvent or has been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude or has been dismissed from the service of the Government for corruption or dishonesty or is otherwise unfit to be a clerk shall be registered as legal practitioner’s clerk as provided in rule 25(1) of the Procedure Rules.

72. Registration of legal practitioner’s clerks.

(a) When an application in Form No IV of the Procedure Rules is made by the legal practitioner for registration of his clerk and the same is allowed by the Registrar, the name of the clerk shall be entered in the Register of clerks in Register No. 9.

(b) The Registrar may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, decline to register any clerk, who in his opinion suffers from any disqualification specified in rule 71 or is otherwise unsuitable to be registered as such.

(c) An appeal may be filed within thirty days from the date of the order of the Registrar under sub-rule (b) to the Chairman/Vice-Chairman.

73. Cancellation of registration.

(a) The Registrar, may for reasons to be recorded in writing, cancel the registration of any clerk after giving him and his employer an opportunity to show cause against such cancellation.

(b) An appeal may be filed against the order of the Registrar made under sub-rule (a) within thirty days from the date of the order.

74. Notifying registration and cancellation.

Orders registering a clerk or cancelling the registration shall be notified on the Notice Board of the Tribunal and a copy sent to the Advocates Association.

75. Issue of Identity Card.

(a) An Identity Card as referred to in sub-rule (3) of rule 25 of the Procedure Rules shall be issued in Form No. 13 to every registered clerk of the legal practitioner on his remitting a fee of Rs. 5 by way of IPO/DD drawn in favour of the Registrar.

(b) The registered clerk shall carry with him the Identity Card and produce the same when required by any official of the registry for identification.

76. Access to information by registered clerks.

The registered clerks, may communicate personally with any Sectional or Departmental Head not below the rank of a Section Officer for information regarding their employers’ matters pending in the Tribunal.

77. Carrying out corrections.

The Section Officer in-charge of Judicial Branch may permit a registered clerk to correct any clerical or typographical mistake in any pleadings or other proceedings. The correction shall be made in the presence of the Section Officer and duly initialled by the maker as well as the Section Officer.

78. Discharge of duties of an absentee clerk.

In case of illness or absence on leave of a registered clerk, the Deputy Registrar or the sectional head of the Judicial Branch may on the requisition of the legal practitioner under whom such registered clerk is engaged, permit the registered clerk of another legal practitioner to discharge the absentee’s duties for a specified period.

79. Presentation and return of papers.

Registered clerk may present or take return of papers on behalf of the legal practitioner whom he represents.

CHAPTER XIV – AFFIDAVITS

80. Title of affidavits.

Every affidavit shall be entitled “In the Central Administrative Tribunal,……………..Bench at …………………….” followed by the cause title of the application or other proceeding in which the affidavit is sought to be used.

81. Form and contents of the affidavit.

(a) Every affidavit shall be drawn up in Form No. 14 in the first person and divided into paragraphs numbered consecutively.

(b) Every affidavit shall contain the full name, occupation, age, father’s/mother’s/husband’s name and address of the deponent. The deponent shall be describe with such other particulars as may be necessary to identify him. He shall affix his signature/mark on each page.

82. Corrections/erasures etc.

Corrections, erasures and interlineations shall be initialled by the attestor and the number of corrections made on each page indicated.

83. Persons authorised to attest.

Affidavits shall be sworn or affirmed before any Judicial Officer, Registrar, Joint Registrar and Deputy Registrar of the Tribunal Notary, District Registrar or Sub-Registrar, the Chief Ministerial Officer of any civil or criminal court in the State or any Advocate.

84. Affidavits of illiterate, blind etc.

Where an affidavit is sworn or affirmed by any person who appears to be illiterate, blind or unacquainted with the language in which the affidavit is written, the attestor shall certify that the affidavit was read, explained or translated by him or in his presence to the deponent and that he seemed to understand it, and made his signature or mark in the presence of the attestor in Form No. 15.

85. Identification of deponent.

If the deponent is not known to the attestor, his identity shall be testified by a person known to him. The identifying person shall affix his signature in token thereof.

86. Annexures to the affidavit.

Document accompanying an affidavit shall be referred to therein as Annexure No……… The attestor shall make the following endorsement thereon:
“This is the document marked as Annexure No….in the Affidavit of…….

(Signature)
Name & designation of the attestor with date.’’

CHAPTER XV – DISCOVERY, PRODUCTION AND RETURN OF DOCUMENTS

87. Application for production of documents, form of summons.

(a) Except otherwise provided hereunder, discovery, production and return of documents shall be regulated by the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

(b) An application for summons to produce documents shall be in Form No. III to the Procedure Rules setting out (i) the document(s) the production of which is sought (ii) the relevancy of the document(s) and (iii) in case where the production of a certified copy would serve the purpose, whether application was made to the proper officer and the result thereof.

(c) A summon for production of documents in the custody of a public officer other than a court shall be in Form No. 16 and shall be addressed to the concerned Head of the Department or such other authority as may be specified by the Tribunal.

88. Suo motu summoning of documents.

Notwithstanding anything contained in these Rules, the Tribunal may, suo motu, issue summons for production of public documents or other documents in the custody of a public officer.

89. Marking of documents.

(a) The documents when produced shall be marked as follows:-
(i) If relied upon by the applicant’s side they shall be numbered as ‘A’ series.
(ii) If relied upon by the respondent’s side they shall be marked as ‘R’ series.
(iii) The court exhibits shall be marked as ‘C’ series.

(b) The Tribunal may direct the applicant to deposit in Tribunal by way of IPO/DD drawn in favour of the Registrar a sum sufficient to defray the expenses for transmission of the records before the summons is issued.

90. Return and transmission of documents.

(a) An application for return of the documents produced shall be in Form No. III given under the Procedure Rules. No such application shall be entertained after the destruction of the records.

(b) The Tribunal may, at any time direct return of documents produced subject to such conditions as it deems fit.

CHAPTER XVI – EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES AND ISSUE OF COMMISSIONS

91. Procedure for examination of witnesses, issue of commissions, etc.

The provisions of Orders XVI and Order XXVI of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 shall mutatis mutandis apply in the matter of summoning and enforcing attendance of any person and examining him on oath and issuing commission for the examination of witnesses or for production of documents.

92. Examination in camera.

The Tribunal may in its discretion examine any witness in camera.

93. Form of oath/affirmation to witness.

Oath shall be administered to a witness in the following form:-

“I do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that what I shall state shall be truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

94. Form of oath/affirmation to interpreter.

Oath or solemn affirmation shall be administered to the Interpreter in the following form before his assistance is taken for examining a witness:-

“I do swear in the name of God/Solemnly affirm that I will faithfully and truly interpret and explain all questions put to and evidence given by witness and translate correctly and accurately all documents given to me for translation.”

95. Officer to administer oath.

The oath or affirmation shall be administered by the court officer or the Commissioner as the case may be.

96. Form-recording of deposition.

(a) The Deposition of a witness shall be recorded in Form No. 17.

(b) Each page of the deposition shall be initialled by the Members constituting the Bench or the Commissioner.

(c) Corrections if any, pointed out by the witness may, if the Bench/Commissioner is satisfied, be carried out and duly initialled. If not satisfied, a note to that effect be appended at the bottom of the deposition.

97. Numbering of witnesses.

The witnesses called by the applicant/petitioner shall be numbered consecutively as PWs and those by the respondents as RWs.

98. Grant of discharge certificate.

Witness discharged by the Tribunal may be granted a certificate in Form No. 18 by the Registrar.

**99. Witness bhatta payable.**

(a) Where the Tribunal issues summons to a Government servant to give evidence or to produce documents, person so summoned may draw from the Government travelling and daily allowance admissible to him as per Rules.

(b) Where there is no provision for payment to TA and DA by the employer to the person summoned to give evidence or to produce documents, he shall be entitled to be paid as bhatta, a sum found by the Registrar sufficient to defray the travelling and other expenses having regard to the status and position of the witness. The party applying for the summons shall deposit with the Registrar the amount of bhatta as estimated by the Registrar well before the summons is issued. If the witness is summoned as a court witness the amount estimated by the Registrar shall be paid as per the directions of the Tribunal.

100. Records to be furnished to the Commissioner.

The Commissioner shall be furnished by the Tribunal with such of the records of the case as the Tribunal considers necessary for executing the Commission. Original documents will be furnished only if a copy will not serve the purpose or cannot be obtained without unreasonable expense or delay. Delivery and return of records shall be made under proper acknowledgement.

101. Taking of specimen handwriting, signature, etc.

The Commissioner may, if necessary take specimen of the handwriting, signature or finger print of any witness examined before him.

CHAPTER XVII – PRONOUNCEMENT OF ORDER

102. Order.

The final decision of the tribunal on an application/petition before the Tribunal shall be described as “Order”.

103. Operative portion of the Order.

All orders/directions of the Bench shall be stated in clear and precise terms in the last paragraphs of the order.

104. Corrections.

The Member of the Bench who has prepared the order shall initial all corrections and affix his initials at the bottom of each page.

105. Pronouncement of order.

(a) The Bench shall as possible pronounce the order immediately after the hearing is concluded.

(b) When the order are reserved, the date for pronouncement not later than 3 weeks shall be fixed. The date so fixed shall not be changed except due notice to all parties/counsel.

(d) Any order reserved by a Circuit Bench of the Tribunal may be pronounced at the principal place of sitting of the Bench in one of the aforesaid modes as exigencies of the situation require.

106. Pronouncement of order by any one Member of the Bench.

(a) Any one Member or the Bench may pronounce the order for and on behalf of the Bench.

(b) When an order is pronounced under this Rule, the court officer shall make a note in the order sheet that the order of the Bench consisting of ………. was pronounced in open court by the Bench consisting of……

107. Authorising any Member to pronounce order.

(a) If the Members of the Bench who heard the case are no readily available or have ceased to be Members of the Tribunal, the Chairman/Vice-Chairman may authorise any other Member to pronounce the order on his being satisfied that the order has been duly prepared and signed by all the Members who heard the case. The order pronounced by the Member so authorised shall be deemed to be duly pronounced.

(b) The Member so authorised for pronouncement of the order shall affix his signature in the order sheet of the case stating that he has pronounced the order as provided in this rule.

(c) If the order cannot be signed by reason of death, retirement or resignation or for any other reason by any one of the Members of the Bench who heard the case, it shall be deemed to have been released from part-heard and listed afresh for hearing.

108. Making of entries by court officer.

Immediately on pronouncement of an order by the Bench, the court officer shall make necessary endorsement on the case file regarding the date of such pronouncement, the nature of disposal and the constitution of the Bench pronouncing the order. He shall also make necessary entries in the court diary maintained by him.

109. Transmission of order by the court officer.

(a) The court officer shall immediately on pronouncement, transmit the order with the case file to the Deputy Registrar (Judicial).

(b) On receipt of the order from the court officer, the Deputy Registrar shall after due scrutiny himself that the provisions of these Rules have been duly complied with and in token thereof affix his initials, with date on the outer cover of the order. The Deputy Registrar shall thereafter cause to transmit the case file and the order to the Judicial Branch for taking expeditious steps to prepare copies and their communication to the parties.

110. Format of order.

(a) The format of order of the Tribunal shall be in Form No. 19.

(b) All orders shall be neatly and fairly typewritten in double space on one side only on durable foolscap folio paper of metric A-4 size (30.5 cms. long and 21.5 cms. wide) with left side margin of 5 cms. and right side margin of 2.5 cms. Corrections, if any, in the order shall be carried out neatly. Sufficient space may be left both at the bottom and at the top of each page of the order to make its appearance elegant.

111. Costs.

(a) Unless otherwise quantified by the Tribunal, when costs are awarded in a case, the same shall be determined as follows:-
(i) For applicant(s) Legal Practitioner’s fee Rs. 500 : Expenses Rs. 150
(ii) For Respondent(s) Legal Practitioner’s fee Rs. 500 : Expenses Rs. 100

(b) Only one set of costs shall be awarded to the applicants as also when the same counsel appears for more than one respondent.

(c) When costs are awarded a Bill of Costs in Form No. 20 shall be prepared giving the details of the costs awarded to the parties and annexed to the order.

112. Compliance of urgent orders.

(a) Whenever the Bench passes an order, final or interlocutory, requiring immediate compliance, the court officer shall immediately transmit the case file and the order to the Deputy Registrar (Judicial) who shall ensure prompt action on the same day.

(b) Files with Dasti orders should be stapled with “To-day” flags and superscribed with OA/TA/RA/CP/MA/PT No. with the signature of the court officer with date.

113. Placing copies/common orders.

When more than one case is disposed of by a common order, the Judicial Branch shall keep the original order in the main case and a certified copy in the other connected case files. In the order sheet of the connected case(s), the Section Officer in-charge of the Judicial Branch shall note that the original order is kept in the main case file (giving its number).

114. Indexing of case files disposal.

After communication of the order to the parties/Legal Practitioners, the official concerned shall arrange the records with pagination and prepare the Index Sheet in Form No. 21. He shall affix initials and then transmit the records with the Index initials to the records room.

115. Transmission of files/records/orders.

Transmission of files/records of the cases/orders shall be made only after obtaining acknowledgement in the movement register maintained at different sections/levels as per the directions of the Registrar.

116. Copies of orders in Library.

(a) The Section Officer of the Judicial Branch shall send copies of every order (final) to the Library.

(b) Copies of all orders received in each month shall be kept at the Library in a separate folder, arranged in the order of date of pronouncement, duly indexed and stitched.

(d) The order folders and the indices may be made available for reference in the Library to the Legal Practitioners.

CHAPTER XVIII – GRANT OF CERTIFIED COPIES AND FREE COPIES

117. Form and fee of application.

(a) Every application for grant of certified copy shall be in Form No. 22 and accompanied with a non-refundable fee of Rs. 5 (Rupees five only) in the form of I.P.O./D.D. drawn in favour of the Registrar and payable at the place of the Bench of the Tribunal.

(b) If the certified copies applied for are for more than one document in the same cases, only one copy application need be filed.

118. Right of the party to obtain certified copy.

A party to an application/petition or his legal practitioner shall be entitled to obtain certified copy of the record, preceding or original document filed in case on payment of prescribed fee.

119. Application for copies by stranger.

(a) Applications for copies of documents (other than orders) by persons not parties to the proceedings shall be allowed only by order of the Registrar obtained on a duly verified petition in Form No. III of the Procedure Rules, setting forth the purpose for which the copy is required on payment of prescribed fee.

(b) Copies of orders can however, be granted to any person on payment of prescribed fees.

120. Register of copy application and requisition register.

(a) A Register of Copy Application shall be maintained in Register Form No. 10 and a Requisition Register in Register Form No. 11 in the copying Branch.

(b) Entries in respect of urgent copy applications shall be underlined in red ink/pencil.

121. Copying fee.

The copying fee payable for obtaining an ordinary copy shall be at the rate of Re. 1 per page and for urgent copy at the rate of Rs. 2 per page irrespective of the number of words/lines in each page.

122. Scrutiny of copy application, requisitioning of case records and rectification of defects.

(a) If the application is in order necessary entries shall be made in the Register of Copy Application and the Requisition Register and the same sent to the official-in- charge of records. The officer in-charge of the records shall promptly transmit the records along with the application after making an entry in the application and initialling the same.

(b) If the application is found to be defective the same shall be notified on the Notice Board of the Registry. If the defects are not rectified within three days from the date of such notification, the copy application shall be struck off. The application shall be deemed to have been made on the date of rectification of all defects.

123. Determination of additional copying fee.

On receipt of the records of officer-in-charge of copying section after satisfying that the records are complete shall determine the additional copying fee payable over and above the copying fee of Rs. 5 already paid and make an entry thereof is the application with his initials. Additional fee payable shall be notified on the Notice Board of the Registry.

124. Remittance of additional copying fee.

Additional copying fee shall be remitted by the applicant between 10-30 a.m. and 4-30 p.m. in the form of IPO/DD drawn in favour of the Registrar and payable at the place of the Bench within two days, in the case of urgent copy, and within seven days in the case of ordinary copy from the date of notice. If the additional fee payable is not remitted within the same notified, the application shall be struck off.

125. Order of preparation of certified copy.

Certified copies shall be prepared in the order in which they become ready in all respects. Urgent applications shall take precedence over all ordinary applications.

126. Time limit for issue of urgent/ordinary copy.

Urgent copy shall be delivered to the applicant as far as possible within three days and ordinary copy within ten days from the date the application is ready in all respects.

127. Notifying when copies are ready for delivery and consequence of not taking delivery.

(a) On each working day before 11-30 a.m., the officer in-charge of the copying branch shall cause to prepare in duplicate in Form No. 23, a list of cases in which certified copies are ready for delivery and publish one copy of the same on the notice board of the Registry with his signature, and the other copy shall be retained for record.

(b) If the applicant fails to take delivery within three months, the certified copy prepared shall be destroyed and the copying fee paid forfeited to Government.

128. Proper accounting of copying fee received.

The Officer in-charge shall ensure that the copying fee received in the registry is promptly accounted in the IPO/DD Register and transmitted to the cash section for crediting them to the Government account.

129. Preparation and comparison of certified copy.

(a) Certified copy shall be made by photo-copying process or by typing. When the copy is so made, it shall be compared by the official in-charge of preparing the copy with the document of which the copy is made, aided by another official in the copying branch. He shall, after satisfying himself that the copy prepared faithfully and legibly reproduces the document desired, appended a certificate as under and affix his initials:

“Certified that this is a true and accurate copy of the document/order as in the case file (OA/RA/TA/CP/MA/PT No. ……../20……) and that all the matter appearing therein have been legibly and faithfully copied with no modifications”.

(b) He shall affix an endorsement on the last page of the copy as under and put his initials:
(i) Serial No. of the copy of application:
(ii) Name of the applicant:
(iii) Date of presentation of application:
(iv) No. of pages:
(v) Copying fee charged/urgent or ordinary:
(vi) Date of preparation of copy:
(vii) Date on which copy is ready:
(viii) Date of delivery:

(c) The certificate and the endorsement shall be made with the help of a rubber stamp got prepared for that purpose. The entries however shall be made in ink.

(d) The officer authorised to issue the copy shall affix his signature below the endorsement and cause to affix the seal of the Tribunal on all pages of the copy and also initial wherever there are corrections.

130. Re-transmission of case records.

On completion of the preparation of the certified copy, the officer-in-charge of the copying section shall re-transmit the records of the case to the concerned branch, after making necessary entries in the Requisition Register and obtain acknowledgement of the official, who receives back the records, in the relevant column of the Register.

131. Mode of delivery of certified copy.

At the time of the delivery of the certified copy, the official concerned shall obtain the signature of the applicant in the relevant column in the Register of Copy Applications, record the date of such delivery on the copy application and fill up relevant column regarding the date of delivery in the Endorsement stamped on the certified copy.

132. Request for certified copy by post.

(a) Where the applicant desires to have the certified copy sent to him by post, he shall send an additional sum of Rs. 10 by way of IPO/DD drawn in favour of the Registrar and payable at the place of the Bench for defraying the postal charges etc.

(b) If the amount sent is found to be inadequate, the applicant shall be intimated to remit the said amount within the time specified. On receipt of the intimation, the applicant shall remit the amount in the manner provided in sub-rule (a) above and within the time specified.

133. Intimation of rejection.

If for any reason the copy application is rejected, due intimation be given to the applicant and the refundable amount if any, returned to him.

134. Supply of free copy only once.

Once free copy of the order is sent as provided in rule 22 of the Procedure Rules, the Tribunal shall not be required to furnish any more free copies.

135. Certifying of free copies.

Every free copy issued to a party or his legal practitioner in accordance with the Procedure Rules shall be certified to be “True Copy” and shall be superscribed “FREE COPY U/R 22 OF CAT (PROCEDURE) RULES” with a rubber stamp and signed by the officer authorised in that behalf. He shall also cause to enter the date and other details of furnishing of such free copy in the Register of Free Copies in Register Form No. 12.

136. Time for furnishing free copies.

(a) Judicial Branch of the Registry shall issue free copies of the order to the parties or their legal practitioners as provided under rule 22 of the Procedure Rules as far as possible within seven days from the date of pronouncement of the order.

(b) If the free copy of the order is delivered by hand to parties/their legal practitioner, the officer in-charge shall obtain acknowledgment thereof in the relevant column in the Register of Free Copies.

137. Furnishing of free copy in a joint application.

When a joint application/petition is made, only one free copy of the order contemplated by rule 22 of the Procedure Rules shall be issued, either to their legal practitioners or if they are appearing in person, to any one of the applicants.

138. Furnishing of corrected free copy of order.

Whenever clerical or typographical errors/mistakes in an order are rectified subsequent to the issue of the free copy thereof, the Registrar shall cause to issue a corrected free copy of such order to the parties/their legal practitioners in the prescribed manner.

CHAPTER XIX – APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT

139. Manner of service of order notice issued by the Supreme Court of India.

Service of orders/notices on respondents ordered by the Supreme Court of India in an appeal or petition pending before that court shall be effected in the manner provided by the Supreme Court Rules, 1966 as amended from time to time.

140. Steps to comply with Supreme Court directions.

(a) Unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court, the Appellant or his Advocate shall be notified to deposit the transmission charges and cost of preparation of record, if any, etc., within 15 days of the receipt of the notice.

(b) When the party or Advocate fails to deposit the amount as aforesaid, the Registrar shall forthwith submit a report thereof to the Registrar of the Supreme Court of India.

141. Register of S.L.Ps./Appeals.

(a) A register in Form No. 13 shall be maintained in regard to S.L.Ps./Appeals against the orders of the Tribunal to the Supreme Court and necessary entries therein be promptly made by the Judicial Branch.

(b) The register shall be placed for scrutiny by the Chairman/Vice-Chairman in the first week of every month.

142. Placing of Supreme Court orders before Chairman/Vice- Chairman/Members.

Whenever an interim or final order passed by the Supreme Court of India in an appeal or other proceeding preferred against a decision of the Tribunal is received, the same shall forthwith be placed before the Chairman/Vice- Chairman/Members for information and kept in the relevant case file. Immediate attention of the Registrar shall be drawn to the directions requiring compliance.

143. Circulation of the orders of the Supreme Court.

All orders of the Supreme Court including dismissal of S.L.Ps. shall be circulated to the Members of the Bench whose decision was challenged before the Supreme Court and kept in the relevant case file.

144. Registrar to ensure compliance of Supreme Court orders.

It shall be the duty of the Registrar to take expeditious steps to comply with the directions of the Supreme Court.

CHAPTER XX – RETENTION, PRESERVATION AND DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS

145. Procedure regarding retention, preservation and destruction of records.

Retention, preservation and destruction of records shall be done in accordance with the rules contained in the CAT (Destruction of Records) Rules, 1990 given in Appendix V as amended from time to time.

146. Receipt, scrutiny and custody of records.

The record keeper shall be the custodian and responsible for the records lodged in the Record Room. He shall receive the records sent to the record room and scrutinise the records within three days of the date of receipt of records in the record room.

147. Rectification of defects/securing of missing records.

If on such scrutiny, any defect or missing of documents is found in the records, the Record Keeper shall intimate the same and remit the records back to the branch/section from which the records were received. Thereupon, the Section Officer in-charge of the concerned branch/section shall cause to take steps to rectify the defects/omission so pointed out, and after such rectification re-transmit the records to the record room within three days of its receipt from the record room.

148. Maintenance of Register of Records received in the record room.

The Record Keeper shall maintain a register in Register Form No. 14 of Records received in the record room.

149. Entry regarding destruction.

Entries regarding destruction shall be made in the relevant columns of REGISTER FORM NO. 14.

150. Preservation of records requiring permanent retention.

Records required to be preserved permanently shall be stacked in bundles of convenient size, arranging them in chronological order. The bundle shall be wrapped in ‘Kora Cloth’ on which shall be attached labels indicating in chronological order register numbers of the cases included in each bundle. Such bundles shall be arranged serially and kept in the records room.

151. Retention of records beyond prescribed period.

The Registrar may for reasons to be recorded in writing and with prior permission of the Chairman order that record of any particular case be preserved beyond the prescribed period provided under the Destruction Rules.

CHAPTER XXI – MISCELLANEOUS

152. Circuit Benches.

The provisions of these Rules shall mutatis mutandis govern applications entertained by circuit Benches subject to such adaptations as may by order be made by the concerned Vice-Chairman on being satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the interest of justice.

153. Use of computers.

(a) The Chairman may issue such orders or directions as may be necessary for complying with the provisions of the relevant Rules of Practice with the aid of the computer and for effective use of the computer facility as and when introduced.

(b) Compliance with such orders or directions issued by the Chairman from time to time shall be deemed to be due compliance of the provisions of the relevant Rules of Practice.

154. Classification of cases subject wise/department wise.

(a) The scrutiny branch of the Registry shall at the time of scrutiny make classification of the cases as follows:-
(i) Department wise;
(ii) Subject wise; and
(iii) Cases which can be heard by a Single Member Bench.

(b) The department wise classification shall be made in accordance with Appendix VI, as may be modified by the Chairman from time to time.

(c) Subject wise classification shall be made in accordance with Appendix VII, as may be modified by the Chairman from time to time

(d) Single Member Bench cases shall be classified in accordance with Appendix VII as may be modified by the Chairman from time to time.

(e) The classification as above shall be entered in the relevant columns in the report of scrutiny in Form No. 2/Form No. 3, Order Sheet in Form No. 4 and Facing Sheet of the final cover in Form No. 5, referred to in rules 11 to 13 of these Rules.

155. Weekly and monthly statements-Furnishing of.

(a) The Registrar of each Bench shall prepare a weekly progress report in Form No. 24 and circulate among all the Members of the Bench concerned.

(b) The Vice-Chairman of the Bench concerned shall forward a consolidated monthly progress report in Form No. 24 to the Chairman before the 7th of the each month.

(c) The Registrar of the concerned Bench shall prepare a monthly statement in two parts as in Form No. 25 regarding filing, disposal and pendency of cases and forward the same to the Registrar of the Principal Bench before the 7th of each month.

156. Inspection of Registry.

(a) The Registrar or the Deputy Registrar designated by him shall conduct inspection of the sections twice a year viz., for the period from 1st January to 30th June and 1st July to 31st December, on such date as may be found convenient.

(b) The report of inspection of the Judicial Branch, Library, Administrative Branch and Record Room shall be as in Schedules I to IV to Appendix IX, as may be modified by the Chairman from time to time.

(c) The Section Officer concerned shall promptly comply with the directions of the Registrar and submit a report about due compliance to the Registrar within such time as the Registrar may grant.

(d) The Registrar shall submit a report to the Chairman/Vice-Chairman containing brief summary of his inspection of the Registry, directions given by him to the sections and the steps taken for due compliance with such directions.

157. Due compliance with the Act, Rules of Procedure and the Rules of Practice.

The Registrar or any officer authorised by him may, for the purpose of satisfying himself that the provisions of the Act, the Rules of Procedure and the Rules of practice are duly complied with, make such enquiry as he deems fit and call upon such party, as he deems necessary to appear before him and pass such orders as he deems proper.

158. Removal of doubt/difficulty.

If in the matter of implementation of these rules any doubt or difficulty arises, the same shall be placed before the Chairman and his decision thereon shall be final.

Contempt of Courts (C.A.T) Rules, 1992

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