In short. Work for the Centre, or draw a central pension, somewhere in Rajasthan other than its fifteen eastern districts? Then the tribunal bench for your service dispute is almost certainly the one in Jodhpur. Its area runs from the Ganganagar canal country through the Thar and Marwar down into Mewar and Vagad, as far as Banswara and Dungarpur. When its orders are challenged, the writ is heard by the Rajasthan High Court at its principal seat, also in Jodhpur. Count one year from the final departmental order and expect one to three years at the bench. This page belongs to a private law firm, not to the tribunal.
Is this your situation?
- You are a defence civilian, MES worker or DRDO employee in Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner or Sri Ganganagar.
- You work for the Jodhpur or Bikaner division of North Western Railway, or for its Ajmer division at a station in Mewar such as Udaipur or Chittorgarh.
- You are a postal, income tax, CGST or central school employee anywhere from Nagaur to Banswara.
- You served the Centre in another state and came home to Pali, Bhilwara, Udaipur or Jodhpur after retiring.
- You work at a central installation whose name suggests another city, such as the heavy water plant at Rawatbhata.
- You are not sure whether your institute, hospital or university is under the tribunal at all.
The short version, and a note about us
The tribunal's jurisdiction table does not list Jodhpur's districts one by one. It describes the bench's area as the State of Rajasthan minus the districts given to Jaipur. So the quickest test is the reverse one: if your district is not Jaipur, Ajmer, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Kota, Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar, Sikar or Jhunjhunu, or carved out of one of them, your bench is Jodhpur.
B.K. Singh & Associates, a private law firm, wrote this page. The Jodhpur Bench has not seen or approved it, and it is not an official source. For cause lists, filing notices and case status, go to cgat.gov.in or to the bench's registry.
Districts that file here, region by region
- Marwar and the Thar. Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Pali, Jalore, Sirohi (including Mount Abu and Abu Road) and Nagaur.
- The north-western canal belt. Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and Churu. Churu is culturally part of Shekhawati, but unlike Sikar and Jhunjhunu it files at Jodhpur.
- Mewar. Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh and Bhilwara, together with Pratapgarh, which was formed in 2008 from parts of Chittorgarh, Udaipur and Banswara.
- Vagad. Banswara and Dungarpur in the far south, closer to Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh than to Jodhpur.
- New districts from these parents. Balotra (from Barmer), Phalodi (from Jodhpur), Didwana-Kuchaman (from Nagaur) and Salumbar (from Udaipur) all have parents on this list.
- Beawar. Formed from parts of Ajmer as well as Pali, Bhilwara and Rajsamand, so it straddles both benches. Find out which old district your tehsil came from and confirm with the registry.
Why the district reorganisation matters less here than you might think
Because the tribunal describes Jodhpur's area as everything Jaipur does not have, Rajasthan's frequent redrawing of districts mostly lands on the right side automatically. When the state abolished nine new districts in December 2024, places like Sanchore, Anupgarh and the rural parts of Jodhpur simply went back to Jalore, Sri Ganganagar and Jodhpur, all of which file here.
The only real trouble spots are where a new district takes land from both sides, which is the Beawar problem. If you are unsure, remember that Rule 6 also lets you file where the order was made, so filing at the bench whose area contains the signing office is a safe fallback.
The border belt: defence civilians, DRDO and the forces
Western Rajasthan has one of the densest concentrations of defence establishments in the country. Jodhpur is home to an Army corps headquarters and an Air Force station, and there are Air Force stations at Uttarlai near Barmer, Jaisalmer, Nal near Bikaner and Suratgarh, along with military stations, ammunition and supply depots and Military Engineer Services formations along the border. Their civilian staff, from MES fitters and store keepers to clerks and firemen, are central employees and their disputes come to this bench. Our page on civilian staff in Army, Navy and Air Force units explains the rules that govern them.
DRDO's Defence Laboratory in Jodhpur adds scientists and technical staff, whose assessment promotions are dealt with on our page on ISRO, DRDO and CSIR scientists.
The disputes these units send to the tribunal have a pattern of their own. Transfers to forward or isolated stations, and the order in which staff are rotated out of them, produce many cases. So do recoveries of house rent allowance when government quarters were available but not taken, MACP and pay fixation of MES tradesmen after successive restructurings of their cadres, and claims by long-serving casual workers in units for regular status. Each depends on the specific Ministry of Defence or Engineer-in-Chief's instructions in force on the relevant date, so the first job is to find that instruction, not to argue general fairness.
Uniformed personnel are a different matter. A soldier or airman serving at that same station takes a grievance to the Armed Forces Tribunal, whose nearest regional bench is in Jaipur. A BSF man of the Rajasthan Frontier, headquartered in Jodhpur, goes to the High Court, because the CAPFs are outside the tribunal's jurisdiction; see our page on why CAPF and armed forces personnel are outside the tribunal. In a single cantonment, then, three people with similar grievances may have three different forums.
Railways, posts and revenue offices
Two of North Western Railway's four divisions, Jodhpur and Bikaner, are headquartered in this bench's area, with workshops and a large running staff. The third, Ajmer, is headquartered in a Jaipur district but its lines run south through Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Udaipur, and staff posted there are in Jodhpur's area. Zonal orders come from Jaipur. A railway employee in Mewar may therefore have a choice under Rule 6 between Jodhpur, where he works, and Jaipur or Ajmer, where the order was signed. Our page on railway staff service cases covers the railway rules themselves.
The Department of Posts has a regional set-up in Jodhpur, and postal divisions across the desert districts produce GDS and branch office cases where the distances and the remoteness of the offices shape the facts. Income Tax and CBIC have offices in Jodhpur, Udaipur and Bikaner. Kendriya Vidyalayas are spread through the cantonments and air force stations, so KVS teacher transfers and disciplinary cases are a steady part of this bench's list.
Institutes and plants: check the employer before you file
This region has many central institutions that are not ordinary government offices, and the forum depends on what each one legally is. ICAR institutes such as the Central Arid Zone Research Institute in Jodhpur and the National Research Centre on Camel in Bikaner come to the tribunal, as ICAR is a notified society; see ICAR institute staff. The Arid Forest Research Institute in Jodhpur belongs to the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, and staff there should confirm whether ICFRE is notified for their category before filing.
AIIMS Jodhpur is a statutory institute. The newer AIIMS were reported to have been brought under the tribunal by a notification in January 2026, so staff there should check the notification's date and coverage, especially for disputes that began earlier. IIT Jodhpur and similar institutions are generally not under the tribunal, and their staff usually go to the High Court.
One trap is worth spelling out. The Heavy Water Plant known as Kota sits at Rawatbhata, which is in Chittorgarh district. The plant belongs to the Department of Atomic Energy itself. That makes the people working there central government servants, and their district makes their bench Jodhpur, whatever the plant's name suggests. Their neighbours at the atomic power station have a different employer, NPCIL, which is a government company; a company's staff are outside the tribunal and take service disputes to the High Court.
The legal basis for filing at Jodhpur
Rule 6, CAT (Procedure) Rules, 1987
Two connecting factors decide it for a serving employee: where you are stationed, and where any slice of the dispute took place. Someone whose service is over, by retirement or by dismissal, may add a third: the town where he or she now has a home. Outside these, only the Chairman can permit a filing.
Sections 19 to 21, Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
The application itself is made under Section 19. Before that, Section 20 expects you to have given the department a fair go through appeal or representation. Then Section 21 sets the clock: twelve months, counted from the last departmental order or, where none came, from the end of six months' waiting. A late filer can ask under Section 21(3) to be excused, with reasons.
Section 25
A case can be moved between benches by the Chairman. In a state as wide as Rajasthan, this occasionally matters when witnesses and records are at the other end of the state; our page on moving a case to another bench explains when it is worth asking.
Writs: the High Court sits in the same city
Here the tribunal bench and the High Court seat that supervises it are in the same city. The Rajasthan High Court's principal seat covers exactly the districts this bench covers, so under the scheme laid down in L. Chandra Kumar, a writ under Articles 226 and 227 against a Jodhpur Bench order goes to two judges of the High Court here. That is a practical advantage: the same local counsel can often follow the matter from tribunal to High Court without the file changing hands.
Should the High Court's decision also be disputed, the last stop is Delhi: a special leave petition under Article 136, which we file through an Advocate-on-Record. How far a High Court will look behind a tribunal's findings is explained on our page on writs against tribunal orders.
There is one local footnote. In April 2022, in Prem Chand Deshantri v. Union of India, the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur declined to send back to the tribunal a service writ that had been filed in 2018 at a time when the tribunal bench was not functioning, saying a litigant cannot be left without a remedy. That was an exception for a period when the bench could not hear cases. It is not a general choice between the tribunal and the High Court, and a fresh service dispute today should start at the tribunal.
From the order in your hand to a filed OA
A realistic sequence for someone in western Rajasthan, where the office, the bench and your home may be hundreds of kilometres apart.
Mark the dates on the first day
Write down the date the order was signed and the date you received it. For a penalty, the appeal period is usually 45 days. For pay, promotion or seniority, there is no fixed appeal period, but a representation should go soon.
Find the right authority
In this region the divisional office may be in Jodhpur, Bikaner or Ajmer, the command or zonal office in Jaipur, and the ministry in Delhi. Address the appeal to the authority named in your rules, and send it through proper channel.
Collect papers before you travel
Ask the office for your service book extract, the relevant file notings you are entitled to, and copies of orders given to colleagues. If they refuse, file an RTI request, keeping in mind the current position on personal information.
Give the department its chance
Wait for the decision, or for six months. Use the time to put your papers in date order and to make a one-page list of dates.
Settle the bench and the High Court together
Decide between Jodhpur and any other bench open to you under Rule 6, knowing the writ court follows the bench. For most people here, Jodhpur is the obvious answer.
File, and ask for interim relief if needed
E-file or file at the registry with the fee, vakalatnama and paper book. If the problem is a transfer to a remote post or a recovery from pay, ask for a stay in the same filing. See filing an OA under Section 19.
Roughly how long, roughly what it costs
| What is happening | Time it usually takes | Your outlay |
|---|---|---|
| Appeal against a penalty inside the department | File within 45 days; decision may take months | None |
| Representation on pay, promotion or seniority | Wait up to six months for an answer | None |
| RTI for records not given voluntarily | Thirty days for a reply, longer on appeal | Rs 10 a request and a small per-page charge |
| Putting the OA together | Two to four weeks once records are in | Photocopies, typing, notarisation |
| Filing at the bench | One day, then registry scrutiny | Rule 7 says Rs 50; the Jodhpur registry will tell you if that or the mode of payment has changed |
| Counter, rejoinder and final arguments | One to three years in a contested matter | No more tribunal fee |
| Writ in the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur | One to three years further | High Court fee and a separate professional fee |
You will not find our charges on this page; we fix them with you at the first meeting, in writing, a stage at a time.
A folder for a western Rajasthan service case
- Posting order showing your present station, or proof of residence if you have retired
- The order you are challenging, with the envelope, dak register entry or e-mail showing when you got it
- Your appeal or representation and the postal receipt or office acknowledgement
- Service book extract and any orders on pay fixation, MACP or promotion
- Orders on hard area, field area or other special allowances, if the dispute is about pay at a border station
- Orders given to colleagues in the same position, if you are claiming parity
- In a disciplinary case: the chargesheet, list of documents and witnesses, inquiry report, your representation and the penalty order
- For a pension dispute: the PPO, the last pay certificate and the pension slip from the bank
A made-up example: a technician at Rawatbhata who almost filed in the wrong city
Here's a made-up example. Suresh, a technician at the Heavy Water Plant at Rawatbhata, has his second MACP withdrawn three years after it was granted, on the ground that a punishment of withholding one increment was in force when the screening committee met. A recovery of about Rs 1.4 lakh is ordered from his pay.
Everyone at the plant calls it the Kota plant, and Suresh's colleague advises him to file at Jaipur. His lawyer checks the district first. Rawatbhata is in Chittorgarh district, which is in Jodhpur's area, so the OA is filed at Jodhpur with an application for interim relief against the recovery. The tribunal is asked two questions: whether the penalty was actually current on the date the committee met, and whether a Group C employee can be made to repay three years later under the Rafiq Masih principles.
Had he filed at Jaipur, the department might have objected to jurisdiction, and even if the objection failed, months would have been lost. Advocate B.K. Singh makes the district check the very first entry in any file from a place whose name is shared with another city.
Disciplinary inquiries when the office is in the desert
Distance changes how a departmental inquiry runs. A branch postmaster in a Barmer village or a store keeper at a forward depot may find the inquiry fixed at Jodhpur or Bikaner, with witnesses spread across several stations. You are entitled to attend each hearing, and if you are under suspension or otherwise not on duty, travelling allowance for attending the inquiry is generally admissible under the travel rules; ask for it in writing before the date, not after.
If the venue makes it impossible to defend yourself properly, for example because your defence witnesses are in Sri Ganganagar and the inquiry is in Udaipur, request a change of venue or examination of witnesses at a convenient place, and give reasons. A refusal without reasons is a point for later. Choose your defence assistant with the rules in mind. Under Rule 14(8) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, a serving colleague posted at your headquarters or at the place of the inquiry can act for you, and a retired government servant may also be allowed; there are limits on how many pending cases one person may take, so check before you name someone.
The record matters more here than in a city case, because the tribunal will see only paper. Ask for the daily order sheets of the inquiry and check that each document relied on was actually given to you. Our page on defending yourself before the inquiry officer covers the hearing itself.
Long distances, virtual hearings and practical choices
Sri Ganganagar is about 500 km from Jodhpur by road, and Banswara is not much closer. For employees and pensioners at these edges, the tribunal's virtual hearing facility is a real help, and many matters can be argued without the applicant travelling at all. Check the bench's current practice on virtual appearance before planning a trip.
For someone posted in Banswara or Dungarpur whose order came from Jaipur, the Jaipur Bench is also available under Rule 6, but it is rarely nearer. People in the canal belt sometimes think of the Chandigarh Bench because Punjab and Haryana are close, but unless part of the cause of action arose there, that is not an option.
If an urgent order is about to take effect, such as a transfer from Jodhpur to a remote post or a recovery starting from next month's salary, a stay application can be mentioned for early listing. Virtual mentioning has made this far easier for people at the edges of the state than it used to be, but the papers still need to be complete on the day; an incomplete urgent filing is usually just sent back.
Job candidates from western Rajasthan
Recruitment disputes for central posts also come to this bench: railway examinations held through RRB Ajmer, SSC examinations, Group C posts filled directly by Army and Air Force units for their civilian establishments, and KVS teacher selections. A candidate generally files where he or she lives or where the rejection was communicated, but recruiting offices sometimes contest this, so keep the rejection letter and its envelope.
Recruitment to the armed forces themselves, including the Agniveer scheme, and to the BSF or other CAPFs is outside the CAT. Such disputes usually go to the High Court. Inside the CAT's area, the commonest complaint from this region is rejection at document verification over a domicile, caste or EWS certificate issued by a tehsil office in a format the recruiter does not accept; our page on certificates not accepted after selection deals with it.
Retirees in Udaipur, Jodhpur and beyond
Many retired central employees settle in Udaipur, Jodhpur and the towns of Mewar, including defence civilians who served all over the country. A pensioner does not have to go back to the city of the last posting. Living in Jodhpur's area is enough under Rule 6, so a man who retired from Pune or a widow whose husband served in Delhi can bring the pension case here.
The usual pension disputes are delayed PPOs, a wrong last pay in the pension calculation, a recovery from pension, a commutation that was not restored after fifteen years, or a family pension refused because a dependent's name was missing from the records. Our page on pension, PPO and gratuity delays explains what to do first. Advocate B.K. Singh generally asks pensioners for the bank's pension slip and the PPO before anything else, since the numbers on those two papers decide whether there is a case.
Who should go somewhere other than the Jodhpur Bench
- Rajasthan government employees. A state school teacher, patwari or constable has nothing to do with the CAT. Their appeals lie to the state's Civil Services Appellate Tribunal, or by writ to the High Court.
- Soldiers, airmen and military pensioners. The Armed Forces Tribunal, regional bench at Jaipur.
- BSF and other CAPF personnel. The High Court.
- Employees of public sector companies and banks. Think of NPCIL at Rawatbhata, the oil companies around Barmer, or a public sector bank branch. Their officers use the High Court; workmen may have the labour forums instead.
- Staff of bodies that are not notified. Many autonomous institutes are outside the tribunal unless notified under Section 14(2). Check before filing.
Talking to us from western Rajasthan
We are based in Dwarka (New Delhi) and Vaishali (Ghaziabad), a long way from Barmer or Banswara, so the first meeting with someone from this region is nearly always online. Scans come to us first; by the time we speak, the file has been read, and the conversation is about whether filing makes sense at all. Where a hearing at Jodhpur needs local appearance, we work with associate counsel there. Fees are agreed in writing at the first meeting, stage by stage.
Holding an order you think is wrong? Send it to Advocate B.K. Singh for a reading of your papers, or ask to be kept posted on rule changes that touch central staff in Rajasthan.
Frequently asked questions
Which districts come under the CAT Jodhpur Bench?
All of Rajasthan except the fifteen districts listed for Jaipur. In practice that means Marwar, the Bikaner and Ganganagar belt, Churu, and Mewar and Vagad, including Udaipur, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Banswara and Dungarpur.
Is Udaipur under the Jaipur or Jodhpur Bench of CAT?
Udaipur is a Jodhpur Bench district. So are Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Pratapgarh and the new Salumbar district.
Where do I file a writ against a CAT Jodhpur order?
At the Rajasthan High Court's principal seat, which is in Jodhpur itself. Two judges hear it. A party still dissatisfied can then seek special leave from the Supreme Court.
I am a BSF jawan posted in Jaisalmer. Can I go to CAT Jodhpur?
No. The BSF, like the CRPF, CISF, ITBP and SSB, is not within the tribunal's reach. A jawan's grievance about posting, promotion or punishment goes to the High Court as a writ petition.
Does the Jodhpur Bench hold circuit sittings in Udaipur or Bikaner?
The tribunal's published information does not show circuit sittings for Jodhpur. Cases are heard at Jodhpur, and virtual hearings are often available, so check the bench's current practice.
Can a defence civilian at an Air Force station file at Jodhpur?
Yes. An Air Force station's civilian clerks, store keepers, MES tradesmen and firemen hold civil posts under the Ministry of Defence, so the bench for their station hears them. The airmen they work beside use the Armed Forces Tribunal.
What if my new district was formed from districts of both benches?
That is mainly a Beawar problem. Find out which old district your tehsil belonged to, confirm with the registry, or file at the bench covering the office that passed the order.
Is this the CAT Jodhpur Bench's own website?
It is not. The site is run by B.K. Singh & Associates, a private law practice. Anything official, from cause lists to case status, comes from cgat.gov.in or the registry in Jodhpur.