Can J&K tribunal be moved to old HC building, apex court asks Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday sought to know from the Centre if the Jammu and Kashmir Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) could be moved to the old high court building.

A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to inform it about the timeframe for the construction of a new high court building in Jammu for which land had already been allocated.

Bhati said she would seek instructions on the issue and suggested that for the time being, CAT-Jammu could shift to a rented accommodation. The top court directed the Centre to provide sufficient staff to the tribunal once it moved to the rented premises.

On January 2, the top court batted for a permanent building, along with permanent staff, for the Jammu and Kashmir CAT, saying it was prudent for the government not to deploy outsourced staffers in judicial and quasi-judicial bodies.

Earlier, the Centre had said that a building was taken on rent for the functioning of the CAT-Jammu and staffers there would be outsourced.

Flagging the lack of infrastructure at CAT-Jammu, the top court had in August 2024 directed the tribunal’s judicial member to file a status report on the requirements so that its day-to-day functioning was not hampered. The tribunal’s functioning was affected due to shortage of the supporting staff, it had noted.