Rajasthan HC Warns of Senior Officer's Court Presence if Appellate Tribunal Vacancies Go Unfilled

The Rajasthan High Court directed the State to appoint two Tribunal Members within one week after the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal remained non-functional for want of a Chairman and Members.

A Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur, comprising Justice Inderjeet Singh and Justice Sandeep Taneja, took up a writ petition filed by a practising advocate who sought directions to the State Government to fill long-standing vacancies in the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal, Jaipur. The posts of Chairman, Judicial Members, and Administrative Members were all lying vacant, rendering the Tribunal entirely non-functional. Government employees could neither pursue statutory appeals nor obtain relief on pending matters. The Bench, accepting a statement by the Advocate General that two Members would be appointed within one week, listed the matter for 11 August 2026 — but made clear that the Principal Secretary, Department of Personnel, would have to appear in person if the appointments were not made by then.

The Tribunal's Non-Functional State and Its Impact on Government Employees

The petitioner, Dilip Singh Kurka, approached the High Court in his capacity as a practising advocate. His grievance was straightforward: every post of significance in the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal, Jaipur — Chairman, Judicial Members, and Administrative Members — was vacant. With no sitting members, the Tribunal could not hear or decide anything, leaving pending work at a standstill.

Counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Sunil Samdaria and Mr. Vinod Kumar Sharma, pointed to a concrete and immediate consequence. The State Government had recently issued transfer orders affecting thousands of employees. For any employee aggrieved by a transfer order, the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal is the statutory forum for first-instance relief. With the Tribunal non-functional, those employees had no accessible forum for their statutory remedy.

Advocate General's Assurance and the Bench's Conditional Acceptance

At the hearing on 4 August 2026, the Advocate General, Mr. Rajendra Prasad, assisted by Ms. Dhriti Laddha, informed the Bench that two Members of the Tribunal would be appointed within a period of one week. The Division Bench accepted that statement and adjourned the matter to 11 August 2026.

The acceptance, however, came with a pointed condition. The Bench directed that if appointments were not made before the next date of hearing, the Principal Secretary of the Department of Personnel would be required to remain present before the Court. This direction converts what would otherwise be a routine adjournment into a accountability mechanism: non-compliance by the State would require a senior departmental officer to answer to the Court personally.

The order is brief but the direction carries practical weight. Rather than issuing a formal writ of mandamus immediately, the Bench gave the State a short, specific window to act on its own assurance. The consequence of inaction — personal attendance by the Principal Secretary, DOP — is meant to ensure that the Advocate General's undertaking is not treated as a mere placeholder.

Outcome

The Division Bench posted D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 14966/2026 for hearing on 11 August 2026. The State Government, through the Advocate General, committed to appointing two Members of the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal, Jaipur within one week of the order dated 4 August 2026. The Bench directed that, should those appointments not be made before 11 August 2026, the Principal Secretary, Department of Personnel, shall remain present before the Court on that date.