The Constitution of India
Article 323A
Administrative tribunals
(1) Parliament may, by law, provide for the adjudication or trial by administrative tribunals 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 of any State or of any local or other authority within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India or of any corporation owned or controlled by the Government.
(2) A law made under clause (1) may —
(a) provide for the establishment of an administrative tribunal for the Union and a separate administrative tribunal for each State or for two or more States;
(b) specify the jurisdiction, powers (including the power to punish for contempt) and authority which may be exercised by each of the said tribunals;
(c) provide for the procedure (including provisions as to limitation and rules of evidence) to be followed by the said tribunals;
(d) exclude the jurisdiction of all courts, except the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under article 136, with respect to the disputes or complaints referred to in clause (1);
(e) provide for the transfer to each such administrative tribunal of any cases pending before any court or other authority immediately before the establishment of such tribunal as would have been within the jurisdiction of such tribunal if the causes of action on which such suits or proceedings are based had arisen after such establishment;
(f) repeal or amend any order made by the President under clause (3) of article 371D;
(g) contain such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions (including provisions as to fees) as Parliament may deem necessary for the effective functioning of, and for the speedy disposal of cases by, and the enforcement of the orders of, such tribunals.
(3) The provisions of this article shall have effect notwithstanding anything in any other provision of this Constitution or in any other law for the time being in force.
Why this exists
Article 323A was added by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976, during a period when courts were flooded with service-related litigation by government employees, causing long delays. The idea, drawn from recommendations of administrative reform bodies, was to create specialised, faster tribunals staffed with people familiar with service law, taking such disputes out of the regular court hierarchy so employees could get quicker justice and courts could focus on other matters.
How courts read it
Parliament used this power to enact the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, creating the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and State Administrative Tribunals. The exclusion of court jurisdiction under clause (2)(d) was challenged as removing judicial review, a part of the Constitution's 'basic structure'. In S.P. Sampath Kumar v. Union of India (1987), the Supreme Court upheld the tribunals but insisted they must have judicial-quality members and effectively substitute for High Courts. Later, in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997), a seven-judge bench held that completely excluding the High Courts' power of judicial review under Articles 226 and 227 was unconstitutional, since judicial review by the High Courts and Supreme Court is part of the basic structure. As a result, tribunal decisions remain subject to scrutiny by a Division Bench of the jurisdictional High Court, even though clause (2)(d) literally says otherwise.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: Once a tribunal decides a service dispute under Article 323A, no court can ever review it, because clause (2)(d) says so.
Fact: The Supreme Court in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997) held that High Courts retain the power to review tribunal decisions under Articles 226/227, because judicial review is part of the basic structure — so the exclusion in clause (2)(d) cannot be applied literally. - Myth: Article 323A applies to all government litigation.
Fact: It applies only to disputes about recruitment and conditions of service of public servants, not to other kinds of disputes involving the government.