In short. An Original Application (OA) is the document that starts your case in the Central Administrative Tribunal. If you are a central employee, pensioner or candidate and the department has rejected you or not replied for six months, this page shows how the OA is put together: Form I, the respondents, the annexures, the reliefs and the right bench. Drafting usually takes one to three weeks once papers are collected. Begin by gathering every order and representation in date order.
Is this your situation?
- Your appeal or representation was rejected and the rejection letter gives no real reason.
- Six months have passed since you represented and the department has said nothing.
- You have decided to go to the Tribunal but do not know whom to name as respondents.
- You have a box of papers and are not sure which ones belong in the OA.
- Your earlier OA came back from the registry with a list of defects.
- You want to file yourself but would like the draft checked before it goes in.
What an OA has to do
An OA tells the Tribunal four things: who you are, what order or inaction hurt you, why that is unlawful, and what exactly you want done. Everything else in the document serves those four points. When an OA fails at admission, it is almost always because one of them is missing or muddled: the impugned order is not annexed, the grounds argue fairness instead of law, or the relief asks for something the Tribunal cannot grant.
The right to come to the Tribunal comes from Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985: anyone hurt by an order touching a service matter within the Tribunal's jurisdiction may apply. The word order is read broadly. It includes an order passed by the government, by an authority under its control, or by a notified body, and in practice the Tribunal also entertains cases about a failure to act, such as a pension that was never sanctioned or a representation left undecided. The form, the documents and the fee are prescribed by the CAT (Procedure) Rules, 1987.
Getting the OA right at the start saves time later. An application with the wrong respondents has to be amended. One that mixes three unrelated grievances is returned. One without the key document waits while the department is asked to produce it. Each of these costs a hearing, and at a busy bench a hearing can mean two or three months.
Before you draft: three checks
First, has the department had its chance? Section 20 wants you to try the appeal or representation your service rules provide before coming to the Tribunal. If you have made one and six months have passed without a decision, you may file. If you have not, the Tribunal may simply direct the department to decide a representation and dispose of your OA. Our page on the representation Section 20 expects explains how to write one that also serves as a base for the OA later.
Second, are you within time? Count twelve months from the last order passed on your case. If your appeal or representation was never answered, the twelve months start once six months from its submission have gone by (Section 21). If that date has passed, the OA must go with a separate application explaining the delay. See filing late with a Section 21 application.
Third, is this the right forum? The Tribunal's work is service disputes under the Union, plus those of organisations the Centre has brought in by a Section 14(2) notification. A jawan or officer of the Army, Navy or Air Force, a BSF or CRPF constable, an officer of a nationalised bank or a PSU, and a teacher in a state government school all have other forums. Settle this before spending money on drafting.
The headings of Form I, and what goes under each
| Form I heading | What you write there |
|---|---|
| Particulars of the applicant | Name, parent's or spouse's name, age, designation, office and address for service of notices. For a pensioner, the PPO number and last post held. |
| Particulars of the respondents | Each respondent by designation and office address. The Union of India comes first, represented by the Secretary of your ministry. |
| Order against which the application is made | Number, date and issuing authority of the order, and a one-line description of what it does. If you complain of inaction, say so and give the date of your representation. |
| Jurisdiction and limitation | Two short statements: the dispute falls under Section 14 and inside this bench's area, and the OA is filed in time (or a separate delay application accompanies it). |
| Facts of the case | Short paragraphs, one event each, oldest first, with the annexure number in brackets. |
| Grounds for relief | Why the order cannot stand in law: the rule or OM broken, the judgment that applies, the natural justice failure. Stated separately, as lettered grounds. |
| Remedies exhausted | The appeal or representation you made, its date, and its outcome or the fact that it is pending. |
| Matter not pending elsewhere | A declaration that no other case on the same matter is pending in any court or tribunal, or details if one is. |
| Reliefs sought | Each relief as a separate clause: quash, direct, declare, pay with interest. |
| Interim order prayed for | Only if you need it. What should happen until the OA is decided, and why. |
| Fee, enclosures and verification | Particulars of the fee paid, the list of annexures, and a signed verification of the contents. |
Choosing the respondents
The government appears in the cause title as the Union of India, represented by the Secretary of your ministry. In railway matters the zone's General Manager commonly represents the Union, and in postal matters the Secretary of the Department of Posts. After that come the authorities who actually passed or can implement the order: the head of department, the regional head, the disciplinary or appointing authority, the pay and accounts office if money is involved.
Private respondents are needed whenever your relief would affect someone else's position. If you want to be placed above certain colleagues in a seniority list, or a selection set aside, those colleagues are necessary parties. If they are left out, the Tribunal may refuse to decide the point at all. Where the affected group is large, a few representative persons may be named and the Tribunal may direct publication of notice.
If you allege mala fides against a particular officer, make that officer a respondent by name, so that he can answer the allegation on affidavit. A vague charge of malice against the department in general carries little weight. Our guide on whom to make a respondent covers the less common cases, such as notified societies and autonomous bodies.
Facts, list of dates and grounds
The facts section should read like a short, careful chronology. Each paragraph covers one event, gives its date, and refers to the annexure that proves it. Opinions and arguments do not belong here. A tribunal member reading the file before the hearing should understand what happened in five minutes from the list of dates alone.
Advocate B.K. Singh usually builds the list of dates before writing a single ground. It shows quickly whether there is a gap in the record (a missing reply, an order you never received) and whether limitation is a problem. The grounds then follow from the dates: if the record shows the APAR was never communicated, the ground is Dev Dutt; if it shows recovery from a Group C retiree, the ground is Rafiq Masih.
Grounds should be specific and lettered. Ground A might say the penalty order was passed without supplying the inquiry report, contrary to Rule 15 of the CCS (CCA) Rules. Ground B might say the appellate authority did not deal with the points raised in appeal. Ten pointed grounds are better than thirty general ones, and a ground that relies on a judgment should give its name and year so that the bench can find it.
The relief clause: asking for what the Tribunal can give
The Tribunal can quash an order, direct the department to do something, declare a right, and award arrears with interest and costs. It does not usually promote people or select them itself; it directs a review DPC or reconsideration. Framing the relief that way avoids an easy objection from the department.
Rule 10 of the Procedure Rules allows one cause of action per application. You may seek more than one relief, but they should be consequential to one another: quash the penalty, and consequently restore pay and seniority. Three unrelated grievances, such as a transfer, an APAR and a leave refusal, belong in separate OAs.
Always add a relief for consequential benefits, and where money is involved, interest. A residuary clause asking for any other order the Tribunal thinks fit is usual and harmless, but it is no substitute for stating the main relief clearly. Our guide on framing the relief clause has examples for pay, pension and discipline cases.
Documents and annexures
Must be annexed
- The order you challenge (Annexure A-1 by convention)
- Your appeal or representation, with proof of sending
- The reply or rejection, if one came
- The rule, OM or policy you rely on, if not readily available
Usually needed
- Appointment and promotion orders relevant to the claim
- Pay slips, pay fixation statement, PPO or pension calculation sheet
- Seniority list, DPC result or APAR communications
- Orders granting the same benefit to similarly placed colleagues
- Earlier Tribunal or court orders in your case or in a similar one
Formal papers
- Vakalatnama, if a lawyer files for you
- Verification signed by the applicant
- Proof of fee payment
- Typed copies of handwritten or faint documents
- English translation where your bench requires one; ask the registry
Paper book, copies and e-filing
The OA is filed as a paper book: an index, the list of dates, the application itself, the annexures in order, and the verification, with pages numbered continuously. Rule 4 requires several complete sets, plus copies for the respondents. Each annexure is marked and certified as a true copy. Legibility matters more than people expect; a faint photocopy of a pay fixation sheet is the commonest reason for a registry objection.
Most benches now accept filing through the CAT e-filing portal, which asks for bookmarked, searchable PDF files and generates a diary number. The service press has reported a Tribunal circular dated 21 October 2026 that tries to make filing practice the same at every bench, dealing with e-filing, PDF standards and how long scrutiny should take. Check with your bench's registry what it now requires, because practice still varies. Our guide on the OA paper book and its order sets out a workable arrangement.
The fee is small and fixed: Rule 7 prescribes Rs 50 for an OA, which has long been paid through an IPO or a crossed bank draft drawn on the Registrar, or online where the portal allows it. Check the current figure and the accepted mode with the registry before you file.
Which bench to file in
Rule 6 of the Procedure Rules gives you a choice. The two ordinary options are the bench for your present place of posting and any bench where some part of the dispute took place, for example where the order was issued. If you have left service, through retirement, dismissal or removal, the bench for your home town is a third option. Cases against orders issued by ministries in Delhi can often be filed at the Principal Bench, since part of the cause of action arose there.
The choice is practical as much as legal. A bench near you makes attendance easier. A bench near the office that holds the records may make compliance quicker. Pick a bench with no connection to your posting or the dispute, and the registry will object; the time spent is simply lost. Where the bench has circuit sittings, ask whether your case can be listed at the circuit, which saves travel.
From draft to first hearing
Arrange the papers in date order
Put every order, letter and reply in a single pile by date. Mark the ones that will become annexures. Missing documents can be sought by RTI or listed as being in the respondents' custody.
Prepare the list of dates and the draft
Write the list of dates first, then the facts, grounds and reliefs in Form I. Read the draft against the annexures line by line to make sure every factual statement has support.
Prepare any miscellaneous applications
If you need delay condoned, interim relief, permission for a joint OA, or exemption from filing a document, each is a separate miscellaneous application filed with the OA. Our page on miscellaneous applications in a pending OA explains the common ones.
File and obtain a diary number
File physically or through the e-filing portal. Note the diary number and the date. The registry then scrutinises the papers.
Cure any defects quickly
If defects are pointed out, cure them and refile within the time given. Repeated delay in curing defects can lead to the matter being treated as not pursued. Our guide on common filing objections lists the usual ones.
First listing
Once registered, the OA is listed before a bench. The Tribunal may issue notice, pass an interim order, reject it summarily under Section 19(3) after recording reasons, or dispose of it with a direction to the department.
One consequence of admission is easy to miss. Section 19(4) says that when the Tribunal admits your OA, a departmental appeal or representation on the same grievance that is still pending comes to an end, unless the Tribunal orders otherwise. If you have a pending appeal and the department is about to decide it, think about the timing.
Time and cost from preparation to pleadings
| Stage | Typical time | Cost in general terms |
|---|---|---|
| Gathering papers (with RTI where something is missing) | Anything from one week to six; the CPIO must answer RTI in 30 days | Ten rupees per RTI to a central office, and per-page copying charges |
| Drafting the OA and applications | 1 to 3 weeks | Our drafting charge is settled with you in writing before work starts |
| Filing and scrutiny | Usually under a fortnight if the papers are clean | Rs 50 Tribunal fee under Rule 7 (verify the present amount), plus typing, photocopies and attestation |
| First hearing and notice | Usually within a few weeks of registration | Appearance |
| Department's counter reply | Often 4 to 12 weeks; longer if the department seeks more time | None for you at this stage |
| Your rejoinder | Usually 2 to 4 weeks after the reply | Drafting of rejoinder |
After notice: the counter reply and your rejoinder
Once notice issues, the department's counsel files a counter reply, usually prepared by a section officer or a dealing hand and vetted by the department's standing counsel. Read it slowly. Departments often admit more than they mean to: a reply that says your APAR was sent to you will normally attach no proof of delivery; a reply that relies on an audit objection may quote a rule that was amended before your fixation. These admissions and gaps become your strongest points at the final hearing.
The rejoinder answers the reply paragraph by paragraph, but it should not repeat the OA. Deny what is wrong, point out what the department has not denied, and attach any document that rebuts a new factual claim. If the reply raises a preliminary objection, such as limitation, non-joinder or that the matter is outside the Tribunal's jurisdiction, deal with it first and fully, because a bench that accepts a preliminary objection will not reach the merits.
Sometimes the reply reveals a fresh order passed after you filed, such as a rejection of your pending representation. That new order must itself be brought under challenge, usually by amending the OA with leave. Leaving it unchallenged can mean that even if you win on the first order, the second one still stands.
Delay in filing the reply is common. The Tribunal generally grants a few opportunities, then closes the department's right to reply or imposes costs, and proceeds. Your lawyer can press for this on each date; the applicant who simply waits gives the department more time than the Rules intend.
Group OAs, pensioners and candidates
A joint OA by several employees is possible, but Rule 4(5) makes it subject to leave, which you ask for in a miscellaneous application filed alongside. The common case is a batch of employees denied the same allowance or the same pay fixation by one order. If their facts differ, separate OAs are safer. See one OA for many employees.
For a retiree, the key annexures are the PPO, the sheet showing how pension was worked out, and any revised PPO. A family pensioner should add the death certificate, the relationship proof and the nomination or family details form. A wrong pension or pay fixation repeats every month, so the courts treat it as a continuing wrong and the claim rarely dies of age. Money is another matter: following Tarsem Singh (2008), the Tribunal usually restricts arrears to roughly the three years before you file.
A candidate's OA is usually urgent because the selection process continues. It should attach the advertisement, the admit card, the result, the rejection notice and the documents submitted. Ask in the OA, where justified, that one post be kept vacant or that appointments be made subject to the outcome.
A made-up example: an MACP OA built in the right order
Here's a made-up example. Pradeep is a Junior Engineer (Civil) with CPWD in Patna. His second MACP was due after twenty years, but the screening committee rejected it because two APARs were below benchmark. Neither APAR was ever communicated to him. He represented to the Superintending Engineer, who forwarded it upward, and seven months passed with no answer.
His cause title begins with the Union of India, represented by the Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and goes on to the Director General of CPWD, the Chief Engineer of the zone and the Superintending Engineer of his circle. Annexure A-1 is the screening committee outcome conveyed to him, A-2 his representation with the dak receipt, A-3 the MACP scheme provision on benchmarks, and A-4 a copy of a colleague's order where uncommunicated gradings were ignored. The grounds rely on Dev Dutt and the DoPT instructions on communicating APARs.
The reliefs ask the Tribunal to quash the rejection, direct the department to communicate the two APARs and decide his representation against them, then hold a review screening, and grant MACP from the due date with arrears and interest if he is found fit. It is filed at the Patna Bench, which covers Bihar. Nothing here guarantees the outcome; the point is that every relief has a document behind it.
A second made-up example: the OA that came back
Here's another made-up example. Meena, a Postal Assistant in Nashik, drafts her own OA. She names only the local Postmaster as respondent, challenges a recovery order, a refusal of child care leave and an adverse remark in one application, and attaches unclear photocopies with no index.
The registry returns it with a list of objections. When it is redrafted, the recovery becomes a separate OA, and the respondents now run from the Union of India (Department of Posts) to the circle's Chief Postmaster General and then the Postmaster who signed the order. The leave and APAR grievances are taken up by representation first. The redrafted recovery OA, with a request for interim protection, is listed within weeks.
Mistakes that delay an OA
- No impugned order annexed. If you are challenging an order, it must be in the paper book. If you never received it, say so and ask for its production.
- Representation not shown. Without proof that you went to the department first, the OA may be disposed of with a direction to represent.
- Relief too wide. Asking for promotion itself, or for all arrears from 1998, invites objection. Ask for what the law allows.
- Grounds that only complain. Hardship and unfairness are not grounds unless tied to a rule, an OM or a judgment.
- Facts that do not match the annexures. If paragraph 6 says the order was received on 3 March and the annexure shows a dak stamp of 19 February, the department will use the gap against you on limitation and credibility. Check every date against the paper.
- Interim relief hidden in the main prayer. If you need a stay, ask for it under its own heading and, where the bench prefers, in a separate application, with reasons why it cannot wait. A stay request tucked into a long relief clause is often not taken up at the first hearing.
- Old pay claims without a cut-off. Asking for arrears for twenty years invites a limitation objection to the whole claim. Ask for the correction going forward and for arrears within the period the law usually allows.
- Wrong verification. The verification must be signed by the applicant and must distinguish what is from personal knowledge and what is from records.
Filing it yourself, or with a lawyer
You are entitled to file and argue your own OA, and many pensioners do so successfully in straightforward cases. The Tribunal is patient with applicants in person. Where the record is long, the limitation position is unclear, private respondents are involved, or an interim order is needed quickly, a lawyer's drafting makes a difference. Our page on arguing your own OA explains how a briefing can help even if you appear yourself.
If you would like us to draft or check an OA, Advocate B.K. Singh will read your papers and the list of dates at the first meeting and tell you what is missing. Fees are discussed then and agreed in writing, stage by stage. If you need an urgent interim order, also read our page on stay orders under Section 24. If you want a second pair of eyes on your OA, or news of procedural changes at your bench, write to Advocate B.K. Singh through our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
What is an OA in CAT?
OA stands for Original Application. It is the application under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act that starts a service case before the Central Administrative Tribunal, filed in Form I with annexures, a fee and a verification.
Can I file an OA in CAT without a lawyer?
Yes. The Rules let you present and argue your own application. Keep the format of Form I, attach the impugned order and your representation, and have the papers indexed and legible. A lawyer is most useful where limitation, interim relief or private respondents are involved.
Who should be the first respondent in an OA against a central department?
Normally the Union of India, represented by the Secretary of your ministry. For railway staff the zone's General Manager is commonly shown as representing the Union. After that, name the officer who signed the order and those who will have to carry out any direction.
Can I challenge two different orders in one OA?
Only if they arise from a single cause of action and the reliefs are consequential to each other, as Rule 10 of the Procedure Rules requires. Unrelated grievances, such as a transfer and an APAR, need separate OAs.
What happens to my pending departmental appeal after I file an OA?
Under Section 19(4), once the OA is admitted, a pending proceeding for redressal of the same grievance under the service rules abates unless the Tribunal directs otherwise. Discuss timing with your lawyer if a decision is close.
How long does the registry take to register an OA?
If there are no defects, registration is usually quick, often within days. Defects add time, depending on how fast you cure and refile them. Bench practice varies.
Is e-filing compulsory in CAT?
Practice differs between benches, though e-filing is widely available and is being encouraged. A circular of October 2026 on uniform filing practices has been reported; check with your bench's registry what is required now.
Can I add new documents after filing the OA?
Yes, through an additional affidavit or a miscellaneous application, with the Tribunal's leave. It is better to include all key documents at the start, because late additions give the department another round of reply.