Moving a Pending Case to Another Bench Under Section 25

Who can move your case, and who decides

Only the Chairman of the Tribunal can shift a pending case between benches. A party can ask for it by application, in which case everyone gets notice and the Chairman hears whoever he considers necessary; or the Chairman can act on his own, and then no notice is required. A bench cannot send its own case to another bench, and neither the department nor the applicant can simply refile elsewhere once the case is pending.

In practice, a party asks by filing a transfer petition at the Principal Bench in New Delhi, which is registered and numbered separately (usually as a PT). The other side gets notice and can file a reply. The Chairman hears it and passes an order. If transfer is allowed, the records go to the new bench and the case continues there from the stage it had reached.

The Supreme Court has said this power is to be used with great care and sparingly. It exists so that justice is done and seen to be done, not to let parties choose a forum they prefer. Keep that in mind when deciding whether to ask for it.

The provisions that matter

First check: is the case in the right bench at all?

A transfer petition assumes the case is properly pending where it is. If it was filed in a bench that had no territorial jurisdiction, the usual course is different: the bench returns the OA for presentation before the right bench, or the department raises the objection in its reply. That is a question for the bench itself, decided under Rule 6, not a Section 25 matter.

So begin by asking two questions. Where were you posted when you filed, and where did any part of the cause of action arise? If the answer points to the bench where the case is pending, the case is properly there and any move must come under Section 25. If it does not, deal with the jurisdiction objection first. Our page on filing an OA under Section 19 explains how the bench is chosen at the start.

Reasons that can persuade the Chairman

• Related cases at different benches. Where the same seniority list, recruitment rule or policy is under challenge at two or three benches, there is a real risk of conflicting orders. Bringing them together before one bench is the most common accepted reason, and departments often seek it.
• A bench that is not functioning. Member vacancies have at times left benches without a quorum for long periods. Where a case is stuck for that reason, transfer to a working bench may be ordered, sometimes on the Chairman's own motion.
• Serious hardship that video hearing cannot solve. A widow in her seventies living with her son in another state, or an applicant with a severe disability, may have a case, especially if video hearings are unavailable or impractical for her at the present bench.
• A specific, reasonable apprehension about fairness. Not a feeling, but facts that would make a reasonable person worry that the case will not be heard fairly. These are rare, and the petition must be drafted with great care.
• The matter is really about a headquarters decision. Where all the decisions under challenge were taken in Delhi and many parties are there, a department may argue that the Principal Bench is the natural forum. This cuts both ways, and the applicant's convenience counts too.

Reasons that usually fail

• You were transferred after filing. On its own, a posting to another city is seldom enough, especially now that hearings by video link are available at most benches.
• Your advocate is in another city. The lawyer's convenience is not a ground. Counsel can appear by video or engage associate counsel locally.
• You did not like an interim order. Dissatisfaction with an order is a ground for review or a writ, not for moving the case. A transfer petition filed after an adverse interim order looks like forum shopping.
• A general belief that another bench is quicker or more generous. The Chairman will not move cases to manage outcomes, and saying so in a petition damages your credibility.
• Delay of the other side. If the department is not filing its reply, the answer is an application in the pending case, not a change of bench. Our page on miscellaneous applications in a pending OA covers that.

Video hearings changed the arithmetic

Before 2020, an applicant posted from Guwahati to Ahmedabad faced a real problem: every date meant a long journey and leave. Today, most benches allow parties and counsel to appear by video link, at least on request. That has reduced the force of the convenience argument a great deal, and the Chairman is entitled to ask why a video hearing will not do.

So before filing a transfer petition, try the simpler route. Ask the present bench to let you or your counsel appear online, using the procedure on the bench's website or by a short request on the next date. Our guide on joining a CAT hearing by video explains the usual steps. If video hearing has been refused, or is unworkable for a reason such as hearing impairment or no access to a reliable connection, record that; it strengthens a later petition.

Filing a transfer petition, step by step

1. Collect the case details

   Get the OA number, bench, date of filing, stage of pleadings and the order sheet. The Chairman will want to know how far the case has gone; a case ready for final hearing is less likely to be moved than one just filed.

2. Write down the reason with proof

   One clear reason, supported by documents: the related OA numbers at the other bench, a medical certificate, proof of residence, a note of how many dates were lost to a non-functioning bench.

3. Draft the petition

   Address it to the Chairman at the Principal Bench, set out the facts, the reason, the bench you want the case moved to, and why that bench. Support it with an affidavit. Keep it short and avoid comments about members of any bench.

4. Serve all parties

   Every respondent in the OA, and their counsel at the original bench, must get a copy. If private respondents are impleaded, they must be served too.

5. File at the Principal Bench

   File with the Principal Bench registry in New Delhi, or through e-filing where accepted. It will be numbered and listed before the Chairman. Check the current filing requirements with the registry.

6. Keep the OA going meanwhile

   A transfer petition does not stop the OA on its own. Unless the Chairman stays proceedings, continue to appear at the original bench and keep any interim protection alive there.

7. After the order

   If transfer is allowed, the records are sent to the new bench, and you will get notice of the first date there. File a fresh vakalatnama if new counsel will appear.

Papers for a transfer petition

How long it takes, and what it costs

Other ways to solve the problem without a transfer

A transfer petition adds a second proceeding, in Delhi, to a case that is already slow. Before you take that step, look at the cheaper options. The first is video appearance at the present bench, discussed above. The second is engaging associate counsel at the original bench to handle routine dates, with your main counsel appearing for the final hearing, in person or online. For many employees posted far away, that combination works well and costs less than litigating the transfer.

A third option is sometimes suggested and is usually a mistake: withdrawing the OA and filing a fresh one at a bench nearer your new home. Once you have been transferred, you may not be able to file at the new bench at all, because Rule 6 looks to where you were posted and where the cause of action arose, not where you now live. Even where you can, the withdrawal resets nothing in your favour. The limitation period kept running while the first OA was pending, and a fresh OA may face a delay objection that the original did not. Withdrawal with liberty to refile, if the bench grants it, helps only partly. Do not withdraw without advice.

What happens to your OA while the petition is pending

Nothing changes automatically. The OA stays at the original bench, dates continue, and interim orders remain in force. If you are the petitioner and you stop appearing at the original bench because you expect the case to move, you risk a dismissal for default. If you need the original bench to pause, ask the Chairman for a stay of proceedings in the transfer petition, and give a reason.

Interim relief also stays where the case is. If something urgent happens, such as a recovery beginning or a relieving order being issued, you apply to the bench where the OA is pending, not to the Chairman. Our page on urgent interim relief explains how such applications are made.

If the case is moved, whatever has happened at the old bench carries over. Pleadings already filed remain on record, interim orders continue unless the new bench varies them, and the case is listed at the stage it had reached. You do not start again.

When it is the department that wants to move your case

Departments file transfer petitions more often than applicants do. The usual reason is that the same issue, a recruitment rule, an all-India seniority list, a policy on allowances, is being litigated at several benches, and the department wants one decision. Sometimes the department also argues that its records and officers are in Delhi.

If you receive notice of such a petition, file a reply. Explain where you live, what travel to Delhi would cost you, whether you can appear by video, how far your case has progressed and how your case differs from the others, if it does. A pensioner in Thiruvananthapuram whose OA is ready for final hearing at the Ernakulam Bench has a strong answer to a petition filed at that late stage. Where all cases are moved together, ask that you be allowed to appear by video at the new bench; that is commonly granted.

The Alapan Bandyopadhyay matter is a well-known example of a department-initiated transfer to the Principal Bench. Its lasting lesson is about where to challenge the order, discussed below.

Reading the Chairman's order

When the order comes, read three things. First, which bench the case now goes to, and whether it is one OA or a batch. Second, whether the order says anything about interim orders, about the stage at which the case will be taken up, or about appearance by video. Third, whether it directs the original bench registry to send the records within a time, which helps if the transfer of papers drags.

Then make sure the new bench knows who you are. Check its cause lists for your case under the new number, file a memo of appearance or a fresh vakalatnama if counsel changes, and update your address for notices. Cases moved between benches can sit unlisted for weeks if nobody follows up. If you were the one opposing the transfer and still wish to challenge it, remember that the Delhi High Court is the forum, and act promptly; a writ filed after the new bench has already heard the case will have little point.

Challenging an order under Section 25

You can challenge a transfer order, but the forum is fixed. Since L. Chandra Kumar, every decision of the Tribunal is open to scrutiny by a Division Bench of the High Court within whose territory the deciding bench sits. A Section 25 order is made at the Principal Bench, so the Delhi High Court is the place, even if your OA was filed in Kolkata or Chennai. The Alapan Bandyopadhyay ruling settled this. A writ filed in your home state's High Court against such an order will very likely be thrown out for want of jurisdiction.

Even in Delhi, such writs are seldom worth bringing. The Chairman's power is discretionary. The High Court will step in only where the order is clearly unreasonable, where a party entitled to be heard was not heard, or where it rests on considerations that had nothing to do with the case. Our pages on writs against Tribunal orders and on service writs in the Delhi High Court cover that route.

If your reason is a fear of unfairness

This is the hardest ground and the one most likely to backfire. A petition that alleges bias must rest on facts: a member's prior connection with the case or a party, a relationship, a prior statement on your specific matter. General complaints about delay or tone, or a string of adverse orders, are not bias.

Where there is a specific concern about one member, the usual first step is a request, made respectfully at the present bench, that the matter be listed before a different bench composition. Most benches have more than one division bench or can have the case placed before another member. A Section 25 petition is for the case where that is not possible or has not worked. Advocate B.K. Singh's advice here is to draft such a petition as if the member concerned will read it, because the Chairman may well ask for comments.

Retirees, families, candidates and group cases

Retirees who file after retirement can choose the bench where they ordinarily live under Rule 6(2), which avoids the problem at the outset. Those who retired and relocated after filing should first try video hearing. Family pensioners and widows of advanced age have the most persuasive hardship case, and should say plainly in the petition why they cannot appear online if that is so.

Job candidates whose cases about one recruitment are pending at several benches may find the department seeking to bring them all to one place. A candidate's reply should stress the stage of his own case and ask for video appearance. Group OAs filed together by many employees are usually kept together; a petition to split one applicant out is seldom allowed. Our page on joint applications by several employees explains how those cases run.

Group A officers in all-India seniority disputes are the most likely to face department-initiated transfers, given that cadre decisions are taken in Delhi. Railway, postal and defence civilian staff usually have cases at their zonal or circle bench, and transfer petitions in those cases are uncommon unless related cases are pending elsewhere.

How we handle transfer petitions

We look first at whether a transfer petition is needed at all. Often it is not: a video hearing request or associate counsel at the original bench solves the problem with less cost and delay. Where a petition is the right step, or where the department has filed one against you, the petition or the reply is drafted and argued before the Chairman in New Delhi, a bench Advocate B.K. Singh appears before regularly. Our page on the Principal Bench, New Delhi has practical detail on that bench, and clients outside Delhi are briefed online.

If you need your pending case moved, or have been served with a department's transfer petition, contact Advocate B.K. Singh for advice on your papers or for updates on Tribunal procedure.