Appeal against CAT Order in Contempt Proceedings Lies before the Supreme Court (SC)

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Allahabad High Court held that appeal against an order of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) while exercising contempt jurisdiction under Administrative Tribunals (AT) Act 1985 lies before SC only, not the High Courts (HCs).

Appeals against the orders of the Tribunals
- In T. Sudhakar Prasad v. Government of Andhra Pradesh (2001), a Constitution bench of the SC held that the contempt jurisdiction is exclusively exercisable by the Tribunal.
  - It was also held that even though the HCs exercised appellate jurisdiction under Article 226/ 227 of the Constitution of India for orders issued by CAT, the orders under Section 17 (Contempt) of the AT Act were appealable before the SC only.
- Previously, in L Chandra Kumar vs. UoI (1997) restored appellate jurisdiction of the HCs against the orders of the Tribunals.

About CAT
- Established under Article 323A introduced through 42^nd Constitutional Amendment (1976).
- Jurisdiction: Adjudication of disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or other authorities under control of the Government.

Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies.
Objective: To reduce caseload of the judiciary and bring in subject expertise for technical matters.
Constitutional Recognition: Article 323A (Administrative Tribunals) and Article 323B (Tribunals for other matters).
Article 323A empowers only Parliament to establish Administrative Tribunals, whereas under Article 323B appropriate legislatures can establish tribunals.