Service matters to be raised first before the Administrative Tribunals

Delhi High Court: A Division Bench comprising of S.Ravindra Bhat and AK Chawla, JJ., dismissed a writ petition challenging the Roster Point System adopted by the University of Delhi. The system was challenged on grounds of arbitrariness and deprivation of SC, ST and OBC categories in fair representation in the various cadres of the colleges of the University as well as in the various levels of posts.

The respondents questioned the maintainability of the proceedings, contending that an identical petition had been filed before and rejected by the Court. The respondents claimed that the said petition was dismissed on grounds that the petitioners lacked standing. The petitioners claimed that the said ruling ought not to unduly restrict the Court from exercising it’s jurisdiction. The Court however, relied on L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India, (1997) 3 SCC 267 : AIR 1997 SC 1125, stating that all service matters are to be initiated first before the Administrative Tribunal by parties competent to do so. The judgment is also decisive in that the Administrative Tribunals are empowered to adjudge on the validity of policies and statutes as far as they pertain to service matters. Accordingly, the petition was dismissed. [O.K. Yadav v. University of Delhi,2018 SCC OnLine Del 7662, decided on 08.03.2018]