Administrative Tribunal Laws in Bangladesh in 2023
This essay will help you make the most of your experience with Administrative Tribunal Laws. It will offer you a clear notion of where you should file your claim over the unfairness you are experiencing and how the process will work.
A special tribunal for resolving disputes relating to or arising out of the terms and conditions of personnel in the service of the republic or any statutory public authority is known as an administrative tribunal. An administrative tribunal is essential for ensuring that the actions of government officials are legal.
Administrative tribunals have been defined as bodies outside of the court hierarchy having administrative or judicial functions; it is a separate entity from the Courts of Bangladesh. A district judge serves as the tribunal’s sole member.
Administrative Tribunal and Writ Petition to High Court
The usual rule is that government employees cannot file a Writ Petition in front of the Administrative Tribunal concerning the republic’s terms and conditions of service. The writ petition is not maintainable in the absence of a challenge to the vires of the statute (Government of Bangladesh and others vs. Santosh Kumar Shaha and others, 2016(1) lnj (ad) 61.
The High Court Division may also hear a Writ Petition on such a service matter if it believes that the remedy before the Administrative Tribunal is ineffective or that the Writ Petition can be heard under the particular facts and circumstances of the case, despite the availability of an alternative remedy before the tribunal (Abdul Wahab Sarker (Md) vs. Bangladesh (Spl. 17 BLC (2012) HCD 355).
The Writ Petition will be maintainable only for concerns relating to the service of the republic when there is a violation of fundamental rights or a challenge to the legality of any law.
Persons in the Republic’s Service
To understand when a claim can be referred to the Administrative Tribunal, it is necessary to define ”persons in the service of the republic or of any statutory public authority”.
A person in the service of the republic is a government employee who is or has retired, or who is dismissed, removed, or discharged from such employment, although it does not include a person in Bangladesh’s defense services.
Jurisdiction of Administrative Tribunal
An administrative tribunal has sole jurisdiction to decide an application made by a person relating to the terms and conditions of his service to the republic, including pension rights and violations of fundamental rights, or any action taken in relation to him as a person in the service of the republic (Muslim Uddin Vs. Bangladesh (Spl), 64 DLR (2012) AD 161). However, such a person must be aggrieved by any order of a higher authority before filing an application with the Administrative Tribunal.
Furthermore, no application to the Administrative Tribunal can be submitted in relation to an order, decision, or action that can be set aside, varied, or modified by a higher administrative authority under any law in force, until such higher administrative authority has reached a judgment on the subject.
As a result, an application or appeal against the decision, order, or action should be submitted to the higher administrative authority first. The higher administrative authority must make a decision within two months of the date of the aggrieved party’s appeal or application. After the time limit has expired, it will be presumed that the higher authority has denied the appeal or application for review, and an application can then be brought to the Administrative Tribunal.
Thus, an application to the Administrative Tribunal should be submitted only as a last resort when other alternative remedies are available to the aggrieved party.
Administrative Tribunal’s Time Limit
An application to the Administrative Tribunal must be made within six months of the date on which the order, decision, or action in question was made or taken by the higher administrative authority, as the case may be (Md. Nazimuddin vs. Govt. of Bangladesh & Ors. 32 BLD (2012)-AD-47).
Who is eligible to file a claim with the Administrative Tribunals?
Any government employee or public authority in Bangladesh has the right to bring a lawsuit with an administrative tribunal. However, one must first meet the following requirements:
- He should have pursued all available remedies under service laws.
- He must have locus standi on the subject.
Information needed to file an application with the Tribunal
Every application to a tribunal must be submitted in writing. An application must include the following information:
- The tribunal to which the application is addressed.
- The applicant’s name, description, and address.
- The opposite party’s name, description, and address.
- The event that is the catalyst for the action.When and where it occurred.
- The facts demonstrate that the tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the case.
- The applicant’s requested relief.
- Anything the applicant expects to rely on.
- An applicant must pay a charge of taka 20.00 and an extra price of taka 5.00 for each application, which must be accompanied by a court fee stamp and signed by him.
Process after the filing of an application with the Administrative Tribunal
Step 1: Inform the opposing party
Following the filing of an application with the tribunal, the tribunal shall notify the opposing party and direct him to provide a written statement. A copy of the written statement must be mailed to the applicant through registered mail.
Step 2: Application disposal procedure
The tribunal will set a hearing date for the application fifteen days after the deadline for the opposite party to submit a written statement. The tribunal shall send a notice to both parties requesting that they appear at the tribunal on the date of hearing with all appropriate documents.
However, if neither party appears on the scheduled date and notice has been properly served, the tribunal may dismiss the application. If the applicant appears but the opposing party does not, the tribunal may hear the case ex parte. If, on the other hand, just the opposing party shows, the tribunal may dismiss the application.
Step 3: Make a decision
After hearing the application, the tribunal shall render its judgement in writing, with reasons, either immediately or at a later date.
Administrative Tribunal’s Authorities and Functions
The administrative tribunal’s primary powers and functions are as follows:
- Any person can be summoned and forced to appear. To put someone under oath.
- Any documents must be discovered and produced.
- Request a public order or a copy of one from any office.
- requiring affidavit evidence
- Issuing a commission to examine witnesses or documents.
- Any proceeding before the tribunal is considered a judicial proceeding.
- If the members of the administrative appeal panel disagree, the majority rule applies.
- A tribunal shall meet at a location determined by the government.
- If the chairman or any other member of the administrative appellate tribunal is unable to attend a hearing, the hearing may be continued in front of the remaining members.
- At any point of the procedure, an administrative tribunal may issue a written order transferring any suit to another administrative tribunal.
- Members of the administrative tribunal or administrative appellate tribunal may make any arrangements they deem essential for the tribunal’s performance.
Binding effect of Tribunal’s decisions and orders
Appellate Tribunal for Administrative Law
All decisions and orders of the Administrative Appellate Tribunal are binding on the Administrative Tribunals and the parties involved, subject to the decisions and orders of the Appellate Division.
Administrative Tribunal
Subject to the decisions and orders of the Appellate Division or the Administrative Appellate Tribunal, all decisions and orders of an Administrative Tribunal are binding on the parties involved.
Bar on jurisdiction of Courts
No Tribunal procedure, order, or decision may be challenged, reviewed, quashed, or called into doubt in any Court.
Appellate Tribunal for Administrative Law
Any person who feels wronged may file an appeal with the Administrative Appellate Tribunal. The appellate tribunal has the authority to hear and decide appeals from any administrative tribunal order or decision. Any decision of the administrative tribunal may be confirmed, set aside, or modified by the appellate tribunal. The appeal tribunal’s decision is final and binding.
The appellate tribunal is made up of one chairman and two additional people. The chairman must be a person competent to be a Supreme Court Justice or an officer in the service of the country. He/she cannot, however, be a government official lower in rank than an additional secretary. One of the other two members must be a republican officer with a rank higher than joint secretary. The other member will have to be a district judge.
Time limit of Administrative Appellant Tribunals
In addition, there is a time limit for filing an appeal with the Administrative Appellant Tribunals. Any person who is dissatisfied with an administrative tribunal’s order or decision may file an appeal with the administrative appellate tribunal within three months of the date of the order or decision.
The administrative appellate tribunal may admit an appeal after three months but no later than six months if the appellant shows that he had adequate cause for not filing the appeal within three months. Furthermore, a party may petition to the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division for leave to appeal (i.e., under article 103 of the constitution) against the Administrative Appellate Tribunal’s ruling.
The right of legal representatives of the deceased applicant to continue the proceeding
Initially, the Administrative Tribunal Act did not grant legal representatives of the deceased petitioner the opportunity to continue the proceedings.
However, the Administrative Tribunal [Amendment] legislation has granted this power; it is one of the most effective aspects of the legislation in serving humanitarian causes. If the applicant dies during the pendency of the case and his service was pensionable under any statute in existence at the time, the legal representatives are now allowed to continue the proceedings.
Furthermore, if the order of dismissal or removal is deemed invalid, the applicant’s legal representatives are entitled to pensionary payments if he retires or dies while in service. The deceased applicant’s legal representative may be substituted upon application to the Tribunal or, as the case may be, the Appellate Division within sixty days of the applicant’s death.
Administrative Tribunal Penalty Provisions
A tribunal has the authority to punish anyone who obstructs any proceedings without a legitimate excuse with one month’s simple imprisonment or a fine of five hundred takas, or both. Furthermore, the Administrative Appellate Tribunal, like the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, will have the jurisdiction to punish for contempt of its authority.
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