In short. Fifteen districts in the middle of Uttar Pradesh, from Hardoi and Unnao across to Bahraich and Pratapgarh, send their central government service disputes to the tribunal's Lucknow Bench; the rest of UP goes to Prayagraj. Serving staff posted in those districts, and retirees living there, will usually file at Lucknow. Expect a defended case to run a year or more, often up to three. Check the district list below, count your limitation, then prepare the OA. We are a private law firm; this is not the tribunal's site.
Is this your situation?
- Your central government office is in Lucknow or a nearby district such as Barabanki, Unnao, Rae Bareli or Sitapur.
- You retired from a central department and now live in one of the Lucknow Bench districts.
- You are a Gramin Dak Sevak in Bahraich, Gonda, Shravasti or Balrampur and have been put off duty or terminated.
- Your assessment promotion as a scientist or technician in one of Lucknow's CSIR or ICAR laboratories has stalled.
- You work at RDSO, a railway workshop in Lucknow or the coach factory at Rae Bareli and have a pay, promotion or discipline dispute.
- Your district is newly formed, such as Amethi, and you cannot tell whether Lucknow or Prayagraj is your bench.
- You already have an order from this bench and want to know where the department's writ, or yours, will be heard.
Which districts belong to the Lucknow Bench
An easy way to remember the list is by revenue division. The Lucknow Bench takes almost all of three divisions plus one stray district. From the Lucknow division: Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Hardoi, Sitapur and Kheri. From the Ayodhya division: Faizabad (Ayodhya), Ambedkar Nagar, Barabanki and Sultanpur. From the Devipatan division on the Nepal side: Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur. And Pratapgarh, which revenue-wise sits in the Prayagraj division but is on the Lucknow list. That makes fifteen, exactly as named in the jurisdiction notification. Every other district in Uttar Pradesh is served by the Allahabad Bench at Prayagraj.
Two of those names have changed on the ground. Faizabad district is now called Ayodhya, and Kheri is what most people know as Lakhimpur Kheri. The notification has not been reworded for every renaming, but the territory is the same, so a postman in Ayodhya or a forest survey employee in Lakhimpur files at Lucknow.
The awkward case is Amethi. It was created in 2010 from tehsils taken out of Sultanpur and Rae Bareli, both of which are on the Lucknow list, yet the notification does not name it. Because every part of Amethi came from Lucknow Bench districts, it is usually treated as Lucknow territory. Since the notification is silent, a quick call to the registry before filing is still worth making.
If your district is not among these fifteen, read our page on the Allahabad Bench at Prayagraj instead. Kanpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra and the western districts all go there.
A plain word about this website
B.K. Singh & Associates, a firm of advocates practising from Dwarka and Vaishali, runs this site. The Lucknow Bench and its registry have nothing to do with it, and nothing here is an official notice. For cause lists, case status and official notices, use the tribunal's own portal at cgat.gov.in. What you read here is our understanding of the law and practice, written for central employees and their families, and you should check anything time-sensitive with the registry or your lawyer.
How the law decides your bench
Rule 6(1), CAT (Procedure) Rules, 1987
While you are in service, two benches are open: the one covering your present place of posting, and the one covering the place where the grievance arose in whole or in part. A Sitapur-posted inspector whose transfer order was signed in Delhi has two choices: Lucknow, because of his posting, or the Principal Bench, because the order was made there.
Rule 6(2), CAT (Procedure) Rules, 1987
Once you are out of service, whether by superannuation, removal, dismissal or discharge, you get a third choice: the bench for the place where you normally live. Pensioners gain the most from this. A railway employee who retired from Moradabad and moved back to his village in Barabanki can file at Lucknow, which is a short bus ride, rather than at Prayagraj.
Section 25, Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
A case already pending at one bench can be shifted to another by the Chairman, either on a party's request or without one. Departments sometimes ask for this when many similar cases are pending elsewhere. Employees use it less often, usually when a case has been filed at a distant bench and attending is a real hardship. Our page on moving a case between benches covers the procedure.
The central offices that fill this bench's cause list
Lucknow is a railway town more than most people realise. RDSO, the Railway Board's design and standards body in Manak Nagar, employs engineers, draughtsmen, chemists and ministerial staff whose seniority and promotion disputes come here. Both the Northern Railway and the North Eastern Railway run divisions from Lucknow, there are large workshops at Charbagh and Alambagh, and the Modern Coach Factory at Rae Bareli adds several thousand more staff. Our page on railway employees' service cases deals with the RS (D&A) Rules and running staff issues.
The city is also the headquarters of the Army's Central Command. Its civilian employees, in the Military Engineer Services, the Command Hospital, ordnance depots and the defence accounts office, are civilians in defence service and come to this bench. Uniformed soldiers are a different story: their forum is the Armed Forces Tribunal, whose regional bench is also in this city.
Science is the third big group. CSIR runs four laboratories here (CDRI, NBRI, CIMAP and IITR), and ICAR has institutes for sugarcane research, subtropical horticulture and fish genetic resources. Assessment promotions, flexible complementing and pay anomalies of scientists and technical officers are regular items. See our page on scientists in ISRO, DRDO and CSIR and the one on ICAR institute staff.
Then come the offices found in any state capital. The UP postal circle is headquartered here, as are big income tax and GST establishments and regional offices of EPFO and ESIC. KVS and NVS run regional offices in the city, so Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodaya teachers from all fifteen districts bring their transfer and discipline cases here. The postal divisions of Gonda, Bahraich and Sitapur send a steady flow of Gramin Dak Sevak cases about put-off duty, termination and TRCA.
People in these districts who should not file at the Lucknow Bench
- UP state government employees. A tehsil clerk, a state police constable or a lekhpal is a state employee. Their forum is the UP State Public Services Tribunal, another body that happens to sit in Lucknow. The two tribunals are often confused because they are in the same city.
- SSB personnel on the Nepal border. Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur and Lakhimpur Kheri have many SSB battalions. As members of an armed force of the Union they are outside the CAT. Our page on why CAPF and armed forces personnel need a different forum explains where they go.
- Public sector company staff. HAL's Lucknow division, NTPC at Unchahar and ITI at Rae Bareli are companies, not departments. Their staff go to the High Court unless the company has been notified under Section 14(2).
- Employees of autonomous bodies that are not notified. Some societies and institutes funded by the central government have never been brought under the tribunal. Check the Section 14(2) notification before filing; a CSIR lab is covered, but not every research society is.
- Soldiers and airmen. Army personnel under Central Command and Air Force staff in the area go to the Armed Forces Tribunal.
Gramin Dak Sevaks in Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur
The Devipatan districts have hundreds of branch post offices in villages far from any town, and the people who run them are Gramin Dak Sevaks. They are not regular departmental employees, but the Supreme Court has long treated them as holders of civil posts, and their disputes come to the tribunal. In these four districts that means Lucknow.
The cases follow a pattern. A Branch Postmaster in a village near Nanpara is put off duty after a shortfall is found in the account books, and the put-off period stretches past a year with no charge sheet. A Dak Sevak in Balrampur is terminated because his engagement was found irregular several years after he joined. Another is placed in a lower TRCA slab after a workload review that nobody explained. The rules that apply are the GDS (Conduct and Engagement) Rules, 2020 and the department's instructions on put-off duty, ex gratia compensation for that period, and appeals.
Two practical points matter here. First, the appeal against a GDS penalty lies within the postal division and the time limit is short, so it should go in before anything else. Second, put-off duty is not supposed to run indefinitely; when it does, the tribunal can be asked to direct a decision. Our guide on Gramin Dak Sevaks put off duty covers the ex gratia rules, and the broader postal staff and GDS page covers regular postal employees as well.
How a case at the Lucknow Bench moves from filing to judgment
Most people imagine one hearing and a decision. In practice a case passes through several short listings before the real argument.
Filing and scrutiny
Your OA goes in with its annexures, affidavit and vakalatnama, either over the counter or on the e-filing portal. The registry checks it for defects such as unsigned pages, missing copies or an unclear relief. Nothing is listed until those defects are cleared. Reports suggest the tribunal is moving towards uniform filing rules across benches, so ask the registry about the current format.
First listing for admission
A Division Bench, normally one Member from the judicial side and one from the administrative side, takes up the case; some kinds of matters are given to a single Member. Counsel has a few minutes to show there is something to try. Three outcomes are common: notice goes to the department, the OA is rejected at the door, or the Bench closes it by telling the department to decide your pending representation within a set time.
Notice and the department's reply
The respondents are usually represented by central government panel counsel; the railways have their own panel. They are given time to file a counter reply, often four to eight weeks. Extensions are common, and the Bench may impose costs or close the right to reply after repeated defaults.
Rejoinder and completion of pleadings
You answer the counter reply in a rejoinder, addressing any new facts or documents the department has produced. After this the case is ready for final hearing, though it may wait some months in the list.
Interim relief, if sought
If a recovery has started, a transfer is about to be enforced or a promotion is about to be made, an application for interim relief can be heard at admission or on an urgent mentioning. Section 24 limits interim orders made without hearing the other side, so expect the department to be given a chance to respond quickly.
Final hearing and judgment
Arguments in an ordinary service matter rarely run beyond forty minutes a side. Sometimes the Bench dictates its order in court; more often it reserves judgment. Once pronounced, the order appears on the portal and you can apply for a certified copy.
Compliance or challenge
If the order is in your favour, send it to the department under a short forwarding letter. If either side is unhappy, a writ goes to the High Court's Lucknow seat, or a review application may be filed before the tribunal itself within thirty days on a narrow ground such as an error apparent on the record.
A fuller account of drafting the application itself is on our page about preparing and filing an OA under Section 19.
Timeline and official charges at the Lucknow Bench
| Stage | Typical time at this bench | Fees and costs (excluding lawyer's fee) |
|---|---|---|
| Your appeal or representation inside the department | No fixed time; after 6 months without a reply, Section 20 lets you approach the tribunal | Nil |
| Last date for the OA | One year, counted from the final order or from the day the 6-month wait ended (Section 21) | Nil; a late OA needs a separate application to condone delay |
| Registry scrutiny and removal of defects | Usually under three weeks | Rule 7 of the procedure rules fixes the OA fee at Rs 50; ask the registry whether the amount or the payment method has changed |
| Admission and issue of notice | Commonly listed a few weeks after the file is cleared | Copies, process fee and postage |
| Counter reply and rejoinder | Roughly 2 to 6 months, longer with adjournments | Notary and affidavit charges |
| Arguments and judgment | A defended case often takes one to three years from filing | Charges for a certified copy |
| Writ before the High Court at Lucknow | Admission is usually quick; disposal can take another year or three | A modest High Court fee plus paper books |
A retired RDSO draughtsman living in Kanpur
Here's a made-up example. Shabnam Ara, 61, retired in 2024 as a draughtsman, a Group C post, at RDSO, Lucknow, and moved to Kanpur to live with her son. Eighteen months later the accounts office noticed that her MACP had been fixed at the wrong level in 2017, revised her pension downward and began recovering Rs 3.1 lakh from her pension.
Under Rule 6, she has two possible benches. The cause of action arose at RDSO, so Lucknow is open to her. She now lives in Kanpur, which belongs to the Allahabad Bench, so Rule 6(2) lets her file at Prayagraj too. Lucknow is closer to the office that holds her file and to the panel counsel who will reply for the railways, and the drive from Kanpur is about two hours. She chooses Lucknow.
Her lawyer frames the OA around two points. First, Rafiq Masih (2015) shields a retired Group C employee from recovery of money paid by the department's own mistake years ago, and the only usual exception, an undertaking signed at the time of fixation, does not apply because she never signed one. Second, Rule 66(2) of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 permits an authorised pension to be cut only for a clerical error, and the alleged MACP mistake is not one. She also asks for interim relief stopping the recovery.
This is an illustration, not a forecast. The bench might stay the recovery at admission, or call for the department's reply first. Either way, she has filed in time, in a bench she can reach, and with the two grounds that matter.
Where the writ goes after the Lucknow Bench decides
A Lucknow Bench order is taken up by writ at the Allahabad High Court's seat in Lucknow, not at Prayagraj. The High Court's Lucknow Bench has jurisdiction over broadly the same group of districts, so the pairing is natural. Two judges hear such petitions; that requirement traces back to L. Chandra Kumar (1997).
Departments file writs against adverse tribunal orders often, especially where a principle affects many employees. If a writ is filed against your order, you will be served and should appear; until the High Court grants a stay, the department is bound to carry out the tribunal's order. Our page on service writs in the Allahabad High Court deals with both seats. Beyond that lies only the Supreme Court, approached by special leave through an Advocate-on-Record.
What to gather before you speak to a lawyer
- The impugned order, and something showing the day and the way it was delivered
- Your representation or appeal, proof of submission, and any reply
- Appointment letter, recent pay slips, and the e-Service Book or service book pages relevant to the dispute
- Seniority list, DPC minutes or APARs, if promotion is involved
- In a discipline case: the charge memo, inquiry report, each reply you gave, and the punishment order
- PPO, pension calculation sheet and the recovery or revision letter, if you are retired
- For Gramin Dak Sevaks: the engagement letter, TRCA slab orders and the put-off duty or termination order
- Judgments already won by colleagues on the same point, and any earlier order in your own case
Problems people from these districts run into
- Filing at Prayagraj by mistake. Employees in Pratapgarh and Sultanpur sometimes assume Prayagraj because it is nearer. Both districts are on the Lucknow list. The registry will return or transfer the file, which costs weeks.
- Confusing the CAT with the state tribunal. A central employee who files in the UP State Public Services Tribunal, or a state employee who files here, will lose time and possibly limitation.
- Counting limitation from the wrong date. The one-year period runs from the final order on your appeal or representation, or from six months after you submitted it if no answer comes. Reminders sent later do not buy extra time; S.S. Rathore (1989) settled that.
- Leaving out the employees who would be affected. If your success would push a colleague down a seniority list or out of a promotion, that colleague normally has to be impleaded. Omitting them can lead to dismissal or a long delay while they are added.
- Not telling the lawyer about a pending representation. Once your OA is admitted, Section 19(4) treats departmental proceedings on the same grievance as having ended. If something favourable was about to come from the department, think about timing.
When a case at Lucknow may not be your first move
Not every grievance needs a tribunal. A pay slip error that plainly contradicts a DoPT or Railway Board order is often corrected within weeks once a representation quoting the order reaches the right section, especially in large establishments such as RDSO or a CSIR lab where the accounts staff know the rules. Filing an OA in such a case can harden attitudes and add a year.
The opposite is true where your income or job is at risk. A removal order, a recovery that eats into your monthly pension, a reversion or a refusal of compassionate appointment all justify moving quickly, because the one-year limit is strictly applied and interim relief is only available once a case is filed. Advocate B.K. Singh tends to put the question simply at the first meeting: what will you lose each month that you wait? If the answer is very little, he suggests the representation route first; if it is a salary or a pension, he suggests filing.
Hearings in person and by video
Most hearings at Lucknow are short. A case may be called for two minutes at admission and not reach real argument for a year. Clients often take a full day's leave and travel from Bahraich or Hardoi to watch a hearing that lasts a few minutes and ends in an adjournment because the department's counsel needs time. You do not normally need to attend unless your counsel or the Bench asks.
Video hearings became routine during the pandemic, and many CAT benches continue to allow them on request, particularly for counsel appearing from another city. Check with the registry what the current practice is for this bench. Our guide on joining a virtual hearing before a CAT bench sets out the practical steps.
The cause list is published on the tribunal's portal the evening before. Look for your case number, item number and court number. If your case is high on the list and the department is ready, it may actually be argued, so keep your phone on and be ready to answer your lawyer's questions about facts.
How the picture differs for officers, Group C staff, pensioners and candidates
Group A officers in Lucknow, such as income tax or CGST officers, scientists and senior railway officers, tend to bring promotion, seniority and APAR cases where the department's file holds most of the evidence. Their applications often need an RTI request or a direction to produce the DPC minutes before the real argument can begin.
Group C staff, from postal assistants to railway trackmen, more often bring pay fixation, recovery and disciplinary cases. Recovery from Group C staff is where Rafiq Masih is strongest, so this is one area where a quick filing with an interim prayer can make a real difference to monthly income.
Pensioners benefit most from Rule 6(2). A retiree living in Unnao or Sitapur can file here even if the dispute arose elsewhere. Widows claiming family pension, and children claiming it on a parent's death, also file where they live.
Candidates who were rejected in central recruitment, for instance by the Staff Selection Commission or a Railway Recruitment Board, generally file where they applied from or where the recruiting body sits. A candidate from Gonda who applied to RRB Gorakhpur would usually file at Prayagraj, since Gorakhpur lies in that bench's area. Whether receiving the rejection at home in Gonda also opens Lucknow is arguable and depends on the facts, so take advice before choosing.
Working with our firm on a Lucknow Bench matter
Our offices are in Delhi NCR; at Lucknow we brief associate counsel who are regulars at this bench. The case is drafted and planned by Advocate B.K. Singh and the team; the associate handles listings and appearances where travel from Delhi is not sensible. Clients from Gonda or Hardoi rarely need to travel to us; a video call and scanned papers on WhatsApp are enough to begin.
Advocate B.K. Singh usually asks two things before anything else: the exact date the final order reached you, and which district you were posted or living in on that date. With those two facts he can tell you your bench and how much time remains, which shapes everything that follows.
Fees are settled at the first meeting and written down stage by stage, so drafting, filing, appearances and any later writ are each clear before work begins. Where a well-drafted representation is likely to fix the problem without litigation, we say so.
This week, if an order has just reached you
Confirm your district is on the list above. Note the date the order reached you and add one year; if you have a representation pending, note when you sent it and add six months. Collect the papers in the checklist and scan them into one folder.
If money is already being recovered, or a transfer or reversion is about to take effect, do not wait for the department to answer your appeal. Speak to a lawyer about interim relief now.
If you want someone to read your file, or to keep you posted on rulings in your area of dispute, reach Advocate B.K. Singh here.
Frequently asked questions
Is Barabanki under CAT Lucknow or CAT Allahabad?
Barabanki is on the Lucknow Bench list. Central employees posted there, and retirees living there, normally file at Lucknow.
Which CAT bench covers Ayodhya?
The Lucknow Bench. The notification still says Faizabad, which is the old name of Ayodhya district, but the territory is the same.
Does Amethi come under the Lucknow Bench?
Amethi is not named in the notification, but it was carved entirely out of Sultanpur and Rae Bareli, which are Lucknow districts. It is usually treated as Lucknow territory; confirm with the registry before you file.
Which High Court hears a challenge to a CAT Lucknow judgment?
The Allahabad High Court, sitting at Lucknow, through a Division Bench. Writs against the tribunal's Allahabad Bench go to Prayagraj instead.
I am a UP state government clerk. Can I go to CAT Lucknow?
No. A clerk in a UP government office is a state employee, so the state's own services tribunal or the High Court is the forum. The CAT deals with central staff and notified central bodies only.
Do I need to attend every hearing in Lucknow?
Generally no. Counsel represents you and most listings are brief. Attend if the Bench directs it or your lawyer needs you present to clarify facts.
Can I file at Lucknow if my office is in Delhi but I live in Sitapur?
Not while you are serving: Rule 6 looks at your posting and the place the grievance arose, both of which point to Delhi. After you retire, home in Sitapur becomes a valid basis for filing at Lucknow.
How much does it cost to file an OA at CAT Lucknow?
The tribunal charges only Rs 50 for an OA under Rule 7, though you should confirm the present figure at the registry. Typing, copies, affidavits and counsel's fee come on top; ours is fixed in writing when we first meet.