HC dismisses plea against AIIMS Raebareli recruitment, says CAT proper forum

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has declined to hear a petition challenging a recruitment advertisement issued by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Raebareli, noting that disputes related to central government institutions must be taken to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and cannot be directly filed before the High Court. 

The order was passed by a single bench of Justice Prakash Singh, which held that the petition was not maintainable under Article 226 of the Constitution. Consequently, the High Court dismissed the plea while observing that the petitioner was free to approach the competent tribunal for relief.

According to a Live Law report, the petition challenged a recruitment notification issued by AIIMS Raebareli inviting applications for two Assistant Store Officer posts and three Private Secretary posts. The petitioner approached the High Court seeking cancellation of the advertisement through a writ petition filed under Article 226.

During the hearing, a preliminary objection was raised stating that the recruitment in a central government institution falls within the jurisdiction of the Central Administrative Tribunal. Taking note of this objection, the High Court referred to Section 14 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, which grants tribunals powers similar to those of courts in matters relating to service disputes involving central government employees and institutions.

In its order, Justice Prakash Singh also referred to the landmark Supreme Court judgment in L. Chandra Kumar vs Union of India. The court observed that tribunals constituted under the constitutional framework are empowered to examine the validity of statutory provisions and rules.

Quoting from the order, the court noted that the tribunals constituted under Articles 323A and 323B of the Constitution have the authority to examine the constitutional validity of statutory provisions and rules.

The High Court further pointed out that the institution that issued the recruitment advertisement was formally notified by the Central government on January 13, 2026. However, the petition had been filed earlier on January 8, 2026, while the recruitment advertisement itself dated back to November 11, 2025.

Referring to Section 29 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, the court stated that if an institution is notified while a matter is pending before a court, the case can be transferred to the tribunal concerned. The bench clarified that merely because the notification was issued after the filing of the petition does not make the High Court the appropriate forum for hearing the dispute.

The court emphasised that such matters should be initiated before the tribunal from the outset. On this basis, the High Court held the petition to be not maintainable and dismissed it.