In short. If you teach or work at a central university, your service case goes to the Central Administrative Tribunal only if the Central Government has notified that university under Section 14(2). Most central universities have not been notified, so their staff file a writ petition in the High Court under Article 226. A writ usually takes one to four years. Before anything else, check the notification position, then use the appeal or representation your university's Statutes and Ordinances provide.
Is this your situation?
- You are an Assistant, Associate or full Professor at a central university and your CAS promotion has been delayed or refused.
- You are a non-teaching employee, such as a Section Officer, technical assistant or library staff member, with a promotion, pay or disciplinary problem.
- You were told to file in the CAT and are not sure that the tribunal can hear a university case.
- You were an ad hoc, guest or contractual teacher and your engagement ended or was not renewed.
- You applied for a teaching post and believe the reservation roster or the selection process was wrong.
- You are a retired university employee with a pension, gratuity or re-employment dispute.
- Your university's Executive Council has passed a penalty or termination order against you.
The first question: has the Centre notified your university?
A central university is created by its own Act of Parliament: the Delhi University Act, the Banaras Hindu University Act, the JNU Act, the Central Universities Act, 2009 for the newer ones, and so on. It is a body corporate, separate from the Ministry of Education even though the Ministry funds it. Its teachers and staff are employees of the university, not holders of civil posts under the Union. So Section 14(1) of the Administrative Tribunals Act does not bring them under the CAT on its own.
Section 14(2) can. It allows the Centre to extend the CAT's jurisdiction, by notification, to any corporation or society owned or controlled by the government. If your university has been named in such a notification, from the date it applies, you file an Original Application before the CAT. If it has not, the CAT has no power over your case, and your remedy is a writ petition in the High Court under Article 226.
For most central universities, including the old ones in Delhi, Varanasi, Aligarh and Prayagraj, the answer for years has been that they are not notified, and service disputes from them go to the High Courts. But notifications are added from time to time, so do not rely on a colleague's case from ten years ago. Check the current position first.
How to check the notification position
- Search the Gazette. Section 14(2) notifications are published in the Gazette of India as G.S.R. notifications. Search the eGazette site with the name of your university and 'Administrative Tribunals Act'.
- Ask the Registrar's office. A written query to the Registrar asking whether the university is notified under Section 14(2), and from what date, usually gets an answer. An RTI application works if it does not.
- Look at recent cases. If the university's own recent service cases are in the High Court with no objection to jurisdiction, that is a strong sign it is not notified. If recent cases are in the CAT, find the notification they rely on.
- Check the date. A notification applies to cases from its effective date. A writ already pending in the High Court may be transferred to the CAT under Section 29, so watch for that if a new notification comes out.
- Read our guide. The guide to checking a Section 14(2) notification sets out the search step by step.
An example of how this can change: universities in Jammu and Kashmir
On 2 August 2024 the Central Government issued G.S.R. 471(E), bringing ten universities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the CAT's jurisdiction under Section 14(2). As reported in May 2025, these include the University of Kashmir and the University of Jammu, and pending service writs from them were sent to the CAT. A former scientist of the University of Kashmir then challenged the notification in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, arguing that a university under a state-era Act is not owned or controlled by the Centre. Notice was issued; check the current status of that challenge.
The lesson for staff anywhere is that the forum can shift with a single notification, and that a notification can itself be questioned. If you work in a university whose status has recently changed, ask for advice before filing anything, because a case filed in the wrong forum loses months.
Who in the university world goes where
| Your position | Usual forum | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher or non-teaching employee of a central university that is not notified | High Court under Article 226 | This is the position for most central universities; check yours |
| Teacher or employee of a university notified under Section 14(2) | CAT bench for the place of posting | Only from the notification's effective date |
| Teacher in a college maintained by or affiliated to a central university | High Court, usually against the college and the university | The college's governing body is often the employer; funding and control decide the respondents |
| Central government employee on deputation to a university | Depends on the dispute | Matters about the parent cadre go to the CAT; matters arising from the university post may go to the High Court |
| Teacher or staff of a Kendriya Vidyalaya on a university campus | CAT | KVS is notified; the campus location does not matter |
| Staff of an ICAR, CSIR or other notified institute on a university campus | CAT | The employer, not the campus, decides |
| Candidate rejected for a university post | High Court, unless the university is notified | Recruitment disputes follow the same rule |
Rules that govern a central university employee
The university's Act, Statutes and Ordinances
These are your service rules. The Act creates the authorities: the Court, the Executive Council, the Academic Council, the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar. The Statutes and Ordinances set out appointment, probation, confirmation, conduct, discipline, appeals and retirement. Many universities have adopted the central government's conduct, discipline, leave and pension rules for non-teaching staff, but only to the extent their Ordinances say so.
UGC Regulations on minimum qualifications and career advancement, 2018
These govern the appointment of teachers and promotions under the Career Advancement Scheme, including eligibility, assessment criteria and the composition of selection committees. The UGC published draft regulations in January 2025 to replace them; check whether a final version has come into force and from when.
Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019
Makes the university or institution, not the individual department, the unit for reservation in teaching posts. Roster disputes about whether a post should be reserved, and the order in which reserved and unreserved posts fall, start from this Act. For promotion-side reservation questions see our page on reservation rosters in promotion.
Section 14(2), Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 and Article 226
Section 14(2) decides whether the CAT is available at all. If it is not, Article 226 gives the High Court power to issue writs to the university, which is a State under Article 12 because it is created by statute and controlled and funded by the government.
Who decides inside a university, and where your appeal goes
The Executive Council (in some universities called the Board of Management) is usually the appointing and disciplinary authority for teachers. For non-teaching staff, the Ordinances often give lower posts to the Registrar or the Vice-Chancellor and higher posts to the Executive Council. An appeal against a Registrar's or Vice-Chancellor's order commonly lies to the Executive Council. An order of the Executive Council itself may be final within the university, leaving only a review, the Visitor or the court.
The President of India is the Visitor of every central university. Most university Acts give the Visitor powers to cause an inquiry and to annul proceedings not in conformity with the Act. A petition to the Visitor is not an appeal in the usual sense and is not decided quickly, but in matters that involve the university acting beyond its Act, it can be useful. It does not stop time running for a writ.
Several central university Acts also provide a Tribunal of Arbitration for disputes arising out of the contract between the university and an employee, made up of a member chosen by the Executive Council, one chosen by the employee and an umpire appointed by the Visitor. Where your university has this provision and your dispute fits it, the High Court may expect you to use it first. Read your university's Act for the exact wording.
Disputes that come up in central universities
- CAS promotions. Delays in convening screening and selection committees, wrong counting of past service or research publications, and disputes over the date from which a promotion takes effect.
- Ad hoc and guest teachers. In some universities, large numbers of teachers have worked for years on ad hoc terms. When permanent selections are held, many are not selected. Claims for regularisation face the Umadevi (2006) bar, but claims about the fairness of the selection itself can succeed.
- Reservation roster for teaching posts. Challenges to the roster, the advertisement of posts as reserved or unreserved, and the treatment of backlog vacancies under the 2019 Act.
- Probation and confirmation. Teachers kept on probation beyond the period in the Ordinances, or discharged at the end of probation with an order that hides a stigma.
- Non-teaching promotions and MACP. Universities that adopted MACP often apply it unevenly. Section Officers, Assistants, technical and library staff raise seniority and upgradation claims.
- Pension questions. Disputes over options between contributory provident fund and pension for older staff, NPS issues for those who joined from 2004, and counting of past service in another university or government office.
- Discipline and sexual harassment complaints. Inquiries under the Ordinances and complaints before the Internal Committee under the POSH Act and the UGC's 2015 regulations on sexual harassment in higher education institutions.
- Superannuation and re-employment. Teachers generally retire at 65 under UGC norms, with re-employment possible in limited cases. Refusal of re-employment, and the treatment of a teacher who turns 65 mid-session, are frequent issues.
Taking a university service dispute to the High Court
Use the remedy inside the university
File the appeal, review or representation that your Ordinances provide, within the time they set. Address it to the right authority, usually through the Registrar, and keep the receipt or diary number.
Collect the record
Ask for the selection committee minutes, the Executive Council resolution, the inquiry report or the roster register as relevant. If the university does not respond, use RTI. Keep copies of the Act, Statutes and Ordinances in force on the date of the order.
Confirm the forum
Check once more that the university is not notified under Section 14(2). If it is, the OA goes to the CAT and the steps change.
Draft the writ petition
The petition sets out the facts, the provisions of the Act and Ordinances relied on, the grounds, and the relief sought. Name the university through its Registrar, the Vice-Chancellor, the Executive Council where its decision is challenged, and the UGC or the Ministry where their regulations or orders are in issue.
Add affected persons
If your claim would displace someone, for example a colleague promoted in your place or a selected candidate, that person must be made a respondent. A petition without them can fail on that ground alone.
File and seek interim relief
File in the High Court for the place where the university is located or where the cause of action arose. If a post is about to be filled, or your engagement is about to end, ask at the first hearing for an interim order that any appointment will be subject to the result of the petition.
Which High Court hears your writ
The usual answer is the High Court for the place where the university has its seat, because the authorities who passed the order sit there. Staff of Delhi University, JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and IGNOU file in the Delhi High Court; our sister site on Delhi High Court writs covers that court's procedure. Staff of Banaras Hindu University and the University of Allahabad file in the Allahabad High Court; Aligarh Muslim University staff also usually go to Allahabad. The University of Hyderabad's staff file in the Telangana High Court.
A university with campuses or centres in other states raises a harder question. A teacher at an off-campus centre who is punished by an order from the main campus may be able to file where the centre is, since part of the cause of action arises there. The safer course is usually the court of the university's seat, unless the facts clearly tie the dispute to the other state.
In High Courts with a Letters Patent or intra-court appeal, a writ decided by a single judge can be taken to a Division Bench, usually within thirty days. From there, the route is a special leave petition in the Supreme Court; our page on SLPs in service matters explains it.
Time and cost of a university service writ
| Stage | How long | Money, in general |
|---|---|---|
| Appeal or representation inside the university | As the Ordinances allow; decisions often take several months, longer where the Executive Council meets rarely | Nil |
| RTI for minutes, roster and inquiry papers | 30 days, more with a first appeal | Rs 10 per application, plus copying |
| Drafting and filing the writ | Three to five weeks after the papers are in hand | High Court court fee, which is modest and varies by state; printing and e-filing |
| First hearing and notice | One to six weeks after filing | Minor |
| University's counter affidavit and your rejoinder | Four to twelve months | Printing and filing |
| Final decision | One to four years, depending on the court and the urgency | Counsel's fee, discussed at the first meeting and agreed in writing for each stage |
| If notified: OA before the CAT instead | One to three years | CAT fee of Rs 50 under Rule 7 of the CAT Procedure Rules; check the current fee and mode with the registry |
Delay in a university writ
No statute fixes a limitation period for a writ, but the High Court can refuse relief for delay. In practice, a university employee who waits years after an order, without a good explanation, faces a real risk of dismissal on that ground. Repeated representations to the Vice-Chancellor or the Visitor do not usually cure delay unless one of them was considered and decided afresh.
Recruitment and promotion cases are especially time-sensitive. Once a selected candidate has joined and served for some time, courts are slow to unseat that person, even where the selection is found flawed. Ask for an interim order early, so that any appointment is made subject to your petition. For pay and pension claims, which recur, the court may allow the claim but limit arrears; whether the three-year limit on arrears applies to pensions has been questioned by the Supreme Court in 2026, so check the current position.
What to bring to the first meeting
Basic service papers
- Appointment letter and the advertisement you were selected under
- Confirmation order, or the probation extension letters
- Service book extract or the university's service record
- The relevant Act, Statutes and Ordinances, with the date of each amendment
For the dispute itself
- The impugned order and the Executive Council or committee resolution behind it
- Your appeal or representation and proof of submission
- CAS application and API or assessment score sheets, for promotion cases
- Roster register extracts and advertisements, for reservation disputes
- Charge memo, inquiry report and your replies, for discipline cases
- Names of colleagues who would be affected by the relief you want
A made-up example: an Assistant Professor waiting for CAS
Here's a made-up example. Dr. Kavita Rao, 38, is an Assistant Professor of Economics at a central university in south Bihar. She becomes eligible for the move from Academic Level 11 to Level 12 under the CAS in 2023. She applies, but the screening committee is not convened for two years. When it finally meets, it assesses her against criteria that came in after her eligibility date and finds her short.
Her first step is a representation to the Vice-Chancellor, citing the regulation in force on her eligibility date and asking for assessment under it. When the Executive Council approves the committee's view without addressing her point, she checks the notification position and confirms the university is not under the CAT. A writ is filed in the Patna High Court, asking that her case be assessed under the criteria in force when she became eligible, with the promotion effective from that date if she qualifies.
Courts in this kind of case usually do not promote the teacher themselves. The common outcome is an order to reassess her under the correct criteria within a set time. That is often enough, but she should go in knowing that the assessment itself will still be the university's.
A second made-up example: a Section Officer in a Delhi university
Here's another made-up example. Rajeev Saxena, 54, a Section Officer at a central university in Delhi, finds that juniors who came in through a later limited departmental exam have been placed above him in the seniority list. He objects in writing to the Registrar within the time fixed in the circular. The objection is rejected in one line.
Because the university is not notified, his remedy is a writ in the Delhi High Court. The juniors placed above him must be made respondents. The petition rests on the seniority rule in the university's own Ordinances, and on the principle that a seniority list once settled is not reopened years later to the prejudice of those already above. If the Ordinance does support him, the court is likely to direct a fresh list; if it is silent, the outcome depends on the central rules the university has adopted.
College teachers under a central university
A teacher in a college of a central university is in a different position from a teacher in a university department. Many such colleges are run by trusts or societies, or maintained by a state or the Delhi government, and have their own governing bodies that appoint and discipline staff. The university's Ordinances still set the qualifications, the selection procedure and often the conditions of service, and the university usually has to approve appointments and confirmations.
For a writ, this means two or three respondents: the college through its principal or governing body, the university, and sometimes the government that funds the college. A privately managed but aided college is usually treated as amenable to a writ in matters governed by the university's statutory Ordinances, because it performs a public function in imparting education under them. A purely private unaided institution is harder. These colleges are never under the CAT, since even a notified university's notification does not usually extend to them.
What the High Court can do in a university case
The court can quash an illegal penalty or termination, direct reinstatement, order a fresh selection or a fresh assessment under the correct criteria, correct a roster, and direct the university to decide a pending appeal within a set time. Where a university has ignored its own Ordinance, relief is usually straightforward.
What the court will not do is sit as an expert body in place of a selection committee. It will not compare two candidates' research and pick the better one, or grade a teacher's publications itself. Framing the relief around a process, such as a fresh committee or an assessment under the right regulation, gives a petition a far better chance than asking the court to declare you selected.
If your university is notified: the CAT route
Where a Section 14(2) notification does cover your university, the process changes. You must first use the departmental remedies under Section 20, then file an OA within the one-year limit under Section 21, before the CAT bench for your place of posting. The tribunal fee is small, the procedure is simpler, and the tribunal is used to service disputes. Its decisions can then be challenged by writ before a Division Bench of the High Court.
Staff of bodies that are notified, such as ICAR institutes or ESIC, follow this route as a matter of course; see our pages on ICAR institutes and government servants and autonomous body staff for how status affects your rights. For other bodies where the notification question is live, such as ESIC and EPFO, see checking the notification before filing.
Mistakes university staff often make
- Filing in the CAT by habit. Colleagues in KVS or ICAR go to the CAT, so university staff sometimes assume they do too. A returned OA costs months.
- Leaving out the person who benefited. A seniority or selection challenge without the affected colleague as a respondent is often dismissed or delayed.
- Relying on the Visitor alone. A petition to the Visitor can wait for years, and the writ clock does not pause while it does.
- Not reading the Ordinance. University rules differ widely. A ground based on the central CCS rules may fail if the Ordinance provides otherwise.
- Waiting until the post is filled. In selection disputes, the time to act is before the selected candidate joins.
- Assuming the forum is permanent. Advocate B.K. Singh checks the notification position afresh in every university file, because one Gazette entry can change it.
Getting advice on your university case
We advise central university teachers and non-teaching staff from our offices in Dwarka, New Delhi and Vaishali, Ghaziabad, and online for universities across India. The first meeting starts with two questions: is the university notified, and what do its Ordinances say about your dispute. Fees are discussed then and agreed in writing, stage by stage. For more background, read our guide on central university staff and the High Court, our page on service writs for staff outside the tribunal, and, for comparison, how KVS and NVS teachers use the CAT.
If you are a teacher or employee of a central university with a service problem, contact Advocate B.K. Singh for advice on your papers or for updates on the law.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Delhi University teacher file a case in the Central Administrative Tribunal?
Not unless Delhi University has been notified under Section 14(2), which, as far as we are aware, has not happened. Delhi University teachers and staff file service writs in the Delhi High Court.
How do I know if my central university comes under CAT?
Search the Gazette of India for a Section 14(2) notification naming your university, or ask the Registrar in writing. If there is no notification, the CAT cannot hear your case and the High Court is the forum.
Can non-teaching staff of a central university go to the CAT?
Only if the university is notified under Section 14(2). Non-teaching staff follow the same rule as teachers, so in most central universities their remedy is a writ in the High Court.
Is there a time limit to file a writ against a university order?
There is no fixed statutory limit, but the High Court can refuse relief for unexplained delay. File within a few months of the final order inside the university, and sooner in selection cases.
Can I complain to the President as Visitor of the university?
Yes, most central university Acts allow a petition to the Visitor. It does not stop the time for a writ from running, so do not wait on it if you need the court.
Can an ad hoc teacher in a central university get regularised through court?
Usually not, because Umadevi (2006) bars regularisation of those not appointed through a regular selection. Ad hoc teachers can, however, challenge unfairness in the regular selection process.
Who is the appellate authority for a university teacher?
It depends on the university's Statutes and Ordinances. Where the Executive Council is the disciplinary authority, its order may be final within the university, leaving a review or a writ.
What happens to my High Court writ if the university is notified later?
Pending writs may be transferred to the CAT under Section 29 of the Act once a notification applies. Your case continues there from the stage it had reached.