CAT lacks jurisdiction over redevelopment challenges that do not concern service matters.

Sixteen applicants residing in government quarters at the G.B. Pant Polytechnic Residential Campus challenged communications requiring them to shift to alternative accommodation because the buildings were to be demolished and redeveloped as part of an integrated campus project.

They did not oppose the redevelopment but sought permission to remain in their quarters until their occupied area was actually required, with demolition and relocation carried out in phases.

The respondents objected that the claim did not concern a service matter and was outside the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

The Tribunal considered the application at the admission stage.

Whether the applicants’ request to remain in their quarters until demolition was required concerned a service matter within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

Whether the Tribunal should intervene in the timing and phasing of the campus demolition and redevelopment, including the consequent relocation of occupants.

The Tribunal stated that its jurisdiction did not extend to the relief sought because the applicants’ challenge to the timing and manner of demolition and redevelopment was not, in substance, a service matter.

It further considered that determining which campus areas should be demolished and when occupants should be shifted was for the competent authorities implementing the approved project; the Tribunal was not the appropriate forum to examine the engineering and administrative aspects of that plan.

No statute or judicial precedent was cited in the order.

The applicants’ grievance concerned when they would be required to vacate their quarters and whether relocation could be phased; it did not challenge a service condition affecting them as employees.

The Tribunal therefore treated the claim as an attempt to question the implementation of a broader redevelopment project, rather than as a service dispute within its jurisdiction.

Because decisions about the demolition sequence and relocation were matters for the competent authorities, the Tribunal declined to interfere with the project plan.

Pending miscellaneous applications were also dismissed; no costs were ordered.