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Jharkhand University Employee Tribunal: The Jharkhand government has taken a significant decision to address the grievances of teachers and staff working in state universities and colleges. A special state-level tribunal will now be established to hear matters related to their service conditions.

Jharkhand University Employee Tribunal: The objective behind setting up this tribunal in Jharkhand is to ensure that employees do not have to directly approach the High Court or Supreme Court for service-related complaints, whether minor or major. Initially, a grievance redressal committee will hear the matter, and if dissatisfied with the decision, employees will be able to appeal to the tribunal.

What is a Tribunal?

In simple terms, a tribunal can be described as a special court. Typically, when a dispute arises, parties approach regular courts (such as district courts or High Courts). These regular courts often have a backlog of millions of pending cases, causing verdicts to take years. To resolve this issue, the government has established tribunals.

Several tribunals are active in India. Among them, the CAT (Central Administrative Tribunal) is the most well-known; it resolves disputes related to the employment, salary, or transfer of government employees. Similarly, the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) handles disputes between companies or matters related to insolvency and bankruptcy.

Who Will Be the Members of the Tribunal in Jharkhand?

The tribunal will be presided over by a retired High Court judge or an individual qualified to be appointed as a High Court judge. Additionally, members will include advocates with extensive experience in legal matters, retired officers of the Jharkhand Financial Service (at the Joint Secretary level), and officers with experience in administrative affairs.

If necessary, the chairperson may also invite an expert to join as an invited member. A professor or associate professor from a university will be appointed as the Member Secretary. All appointments will be for a tenure of three years, and the members will receive salaries and allowances. The presence of at least two members will be mandatory for the tribunal’s meetings.

In which cases can an appeal be filed with the tribunal?

A teacher or employee may appeal to the tribunal if they are dismissed, have their service terminated, are compulsorily retired, or face demotion. However, cases already pending in a court or another tribunal will not be heard by this tribunal.

650 cases related to Jharkhand’s government universities pending in court

Currently, approximately 650 cases involving government universities in Jharkhand are reportedly pending in the High Court and the Supreme Court. Most of these disputes relate to pay fixation, appointments, promotions, and service conditions. Lok Adalats had previously been utilized in an attempt to reduce the number of these cases.

The state government has also appointed nodal officers across all universities to ensure regular monitoring of pending cases. With the establishment of the tribunal, it is expected that new disputes will be resolved more quickly and the burden on the courts will be reduced.

Penalty for non-compliance with orders

If a university fails to comply with the tribunal’s orders, financial penalties will be imposed. For a first instance of non-compliance, a university may face a fine of up to ₹1 lakh; under normal circumstances, this fine will not be less than ₹10,000. If the directives are disregarded a second time, the fine may be increased to up to ₹5 lakh.

In such cases, the minimum fine will be ₹50,000, unless the tribunal records a specific reason to the contrary in its decision. The government believes that this system will enable the resolution of service-related disputes in universities and colleges more swiftly and effectively than before.