CAT Administrative Member Recruitment 2026: 4 Posts, ₹2.25 Lakh Pay, Eligibility & How to Apply

1. Introduction: What the CAT Administrative Member 2026 Circular Offers

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has invited applications for 4 posts of Administrative Member in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) through Vacancy Circular No. A-11013/1/2025-AT dated 5 November 2026. Only officers who have held the post of Additional Secretary to the Government of India, or an equivalent Central or State post carrying at least the same pay, are eligible. The post carries a fixed salary of ₹2,25,000 per month, a term of five years or until age 67, and complete applications must physically reach DoPT in New Delhi by 5:30 PM on 20 December 2026.

This is not a routine repeat of earlier circulars. It is one of the first CAT Member calls issued after Parliament replaced the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 with the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2026, and after the Law Ministry notified the National Tribunals Commission and Qualification, Selection, and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members of Tribunals Rules, 2026 on 30 September 2026. Eligibility now flows from Rule 25(III)(c) of those 2026 Rules, while the selection itself is being completed by the Search-cum-Selection Committee constituted under the older 2021 Act. That overlap affects how you read every clause, and we explain it in Section 5.

The audience for this circular is small and senior: IAS officers, officers of the organised Group 'A' Central Services, and State cadre officers at Principal Secretary-level pay, many of them close to superannuation or already retired. For that reader, the practical questions are not about the syllabus or a fee. They are about pension arithmetic, how many years of tenure remain after joining at a particular age, how long a cadre authority takes to issue vigilance clearance, and what happens if you change your mind after the interview. This guide answers each of those questions using the circular, its three annexures and the new 2026 legal framework.

2. About the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)

The Central Administrative Tribunal is a specialised adjudicatory body set up under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 to decide service disputes of persons appointed under the Government of India, covering matters such as recruitment, promotion, seniority, pay fixation, disciplinary action and pension. Each CAT bench normally sits as a Division Bench of one Judicial Member and one Administrative Member, which is why the Administrative Member's understanding of how government actually runs is central to the tribunal's work.

The workload is substantial. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the Government informed Parliament that CAT had received 9,88,738 cases since 1985, disposed of 9,19,157 by 31 January 2026, and had 69,581 cases pending adjudication. Every vacant Member seat directly slows disposal at the bench where it falls, which explains why DoPT advertises both existing and anticipated vacancies in a single circular.

A selected Administrative Member can be posted to the Principal Bench or any of the 18 other benches. The circular does not allow candidates to state a bench preference, so applicants should be prepared to relocate.

3. Important Dates & a 40-Day Planning Calendar

The CAT Administrative Member application window runs from 5 November 2026 to 5:30 PM on 20 December 2026, and the deadline is a receipt deadline, not a dispatch deadline. The last date also doubles as the crucial date on which your eligibility is tested.

Most of the effort in this application sits with your cadre authority, not with you. Cadre clearance, vigilance clearance from the Chief Vigilance Officer and attested copies of five years of APARs all depend on other offices. The calendar below works backwards from the deadline so that no single dependency lands in the final week.

4. CAT Administrative Member Vacancy 2026

DoPT has notified 4 vacancies of Administrative Member in CAT, combining posts that are already vacant with posts expected to fall vacant as sitting Members complete their terms. The count matches the four Administrative Member vacancies advertised in the previous cycle, and the circular warns that the final number may change.

Two features of this vacancy table are worth noting. First, there is no reservation roster or UR/OBC/SC/ST split, which is normal for tribunal Member posts filled by committee selection. The Annexure-I form still asks for your category, so fill it in, but it does not place you in a separate merit list. Second, because the vacancies include anticipated ones, sitting Members whose terms end during the selection cycle can apply for re-appointment against the same pool, which is covered in Section 9.

5. What Changed Under the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2026

The CAT Administrative Member 2026 circular is governed by a new legal framework: the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2026, which received Presidential assent on 13 August 2026, and the NTC Rules, 2026, notified on 30 September 2026. The Act followed the Supreme Court's ruling in Madras Bar Association v. Union of India, which struck down parts of the 2021 Act and directed the Centre to set up an independent National Tribunals Commission (NTC).

Under the new law, the NTC is a five-member body headquartered in New Delhi, with a Chairperson, two Judicial Members and two Technical Members. Its functions include running selections for 16 tribunals, including CAT, through Search-cum-Selection Committees. However, the NTC was only being set up when this circular was issued. Section 24(3)(a) of the 2026 Act therefore allows the Search-cum-Selection Committee already constituted under the 2021 Act to continue and complete pending selections, while the pay, allowances and service conditions of whoever is appointed will be governed by the 2026 Act.

The five-year term is not limited to new appointees. On 1 September 2026, DoPT revised several earlier appointment orders so that sitting CAT Members also hold office for five years or until age 67, whichever is earlier. This matters for re-appointment candidates, because members whose terms had earlier been fixed to end in September 2026 may now have more time left than they assumed.

6. Eligibility: Who Counts as "Additional Secretary or Equivalent"

To be eligible for CAT Administrative Member 2026, you must have held the post of Additional Secretary to the Government of India, or an equivalent post under the Central Government or a State Government whose pay is not less than that of an Additional Secretary, on or before 20 December 2026. This is the only qualification prescribed in Rule 25(III)(c) of the NTC Rules, 2026; no minimum degree, written test or upper entry age is stated in the circular.

The qualification is a pay test rather than a service test. You do not need to belong to the IAS, but you must have actually held a post at or above Additional Secretary-level pay. Annexure-I makes this test explicit in two ways. Item 8A asks you to mark which row of your employment record is equivalent to Additional Secretary or above and to attach a self-attested copy of your latest pay slip. Item 9 asks for the exact date from which you began drawing that pay.

7. Age Limit & Real Tenure by Joining Age

The CAT Administrative Member 2026 circular prescribes no minimum or maximum age for applying, and offers no category-wise age relaxation. Instead, age works as an exit limit: a Member holds office for five years or until reaching age 67, whichever comes first. Because most eligible officers are in their mid-50s or older, the age at which you join decides how long you will actually serve.

Selection for tribunal posts usually takes several months, covering shortlisting, personal interaction, the committee's recommendation and approval by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. An applicant who is 62 on the closing date may well be 63 on the joining date and lose a year of the five-year term. When estimating your tenure, add a realistic gap between 20 December 2026 and the likely date of your appointment order.

8. Salary, Pension Deduction & Service Terms

A CAT Administrative Member receives a fixed salary of ₹2,25,000 per month, plus the allowances admissible to a Government of India Group 'A' officer drawing the same pay. Two conditions change what this means in practice: any pension you already receive is deducted in full from the salary, and the years you serve at CAT earn no additional pension, provident fund or gratuity.

To put the figure in context, ₹2,25,000 is the fixed apex pay of Level 17 in the 7th CPC pay matrix, the pay drawn by a Secretary to the Government of India. An Additional Secretary normally sits at Level 15, which tops out at ₹2,24,100. A serving Additional Secretary therefore moves to a pay figure slightly above the ceiling of their current level. The NTC Rules, 2026 also fix the same ₹2.25 lakh for Members of the National Tribunals Commission itself, which shows that the government is treating tribunal membership as Secretary-equivalent.

How the pension deduction works: a worked example

The circular reduces the Member's pay by the gross amount of pension drawn. Under the 7th CPC, basic pension is normally 50 percent of the last basic pay. The table below uses an illustrative retired officer whose last basic pay was ₹2,18,200 at Level 15.

The takeaway is simple: CAT membership caps your combined pension plus salary at ₹2,25,000 per month, plus allowances. The financial gain over staying retired is roughly the difference between your pension and ₹2,25,000, plus the Group 'A' allowances. The gain over continuing in service depends on how many years of service you would give up.

Service terms you must accept

9. Selection Process: Scrutiny to ACC Approval

CAT Administrative Members are selected without any written examination. The Search-cum-Selection Committee scrutinises applications for qualification and experience, shortlists candidates for a personal interaction, and makes its final recommendation on an overall evaluation of qualification, experience and the interaction. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet then approves the appointment.

Since there is no exam, the written parts of your application carry unusual weight. The 200-word note on adjudicating experience and the five 200-word achievement write-ups are often the main material the committee has before deciding whom to call for interaction. Write them as evidence: specific cases, decisions, numbers and outcomes, not job descriptions.

10. Document Checklist and Who Signs What

A complete CAT Administrative Member 2026 application has seven components, and only two of them come from you alone. The rest have to be issued, signed or attested by your employer, cadre authority or Chief Vigilance Officer, which is why the application must go through proper channel wherever applicable.

What Annexure-III asks your CVO to certify

Annexure-III is the most time-consuming document because the CVO or HOD must review ten years of your record. It covers your name, father's name, date of birth, date of retirement, date of entry into service, service, batch and cadre, and every position held in the preceding ten years with dates. It also requires answers on whether you were ever placed on the Agreed List or the list of Officers of Doubtful Integrity, whether any vigilance allegation was examined in the last ten years and with what result, any penalty imposed and its date, any pending disciplinary or criminal proceedings or charge sheet, and any action currently contemplated. If vigilance clearance was taken from the Commission earlier, the information may be provided only for the period after that clearance.

11. Filling Annexure-I: Field-by-Field Guide

Annexure-I is a 15-item proforma followed by a five-point declaration, and every field must be filled. Where an item does not apply to you, write "Not applicable" rather than leaving it blank, because the form itself warns that incomplete applications are liable to be rejected.

12. How to Apply for CAT Administrative Member 2026

The CAT Administrative Member 2026 application is entirely offline. You download the circular and form from the DoPT or CAT website, complete it in typed form, gather the annexures, route it through proper channel where applicable, and ensure it physically reaches the Secretary, DoPT at Kartavya Bhawan-3, New Delhi, by 5:30 PM on 20 December 2026. There is no application fee.

Mark the envelope clearly as an application for the post of Administrative Member, CAT, against Circular No. A-11013/1/2025-AT, and keep the postal receipt and tracking number. For queries, the circular names Shri Rishi Pal, Under Secretary to the Government of India (AT), on 011-26773460 / 62, or by email at rishi.pal13@nic.in.

13. The Declaration: Withdrawal Rules & 3-Year Debarment

By signing the Annexure-I declaration, you commit not to withdraw after the Selection Committee meets, not to decline the appointment if the ACC selects you, and to join within 30 days of the appointment order. Breaking any of these three commitments can lead the Government of India to debar you for three years from appointments outside your cadre and from posts in autonomous, statutory and regulatory bodies.

For a serving officer, the 30-day joining condition is the tightest one, because resignation or voluntary retirement from the parent service must be completed before joining CAT. If you are likely to be selected for another post-retirement or deputation role at the same time, decide your priority before the committee meets. After that point, withdrawing could shut you out of comparable statutory and regulatory appointments for three years.

14. General Instructions

• Applications must be original and neatly typed in the prescribed format; photocopied or handwritten forms risk rejection.
• No application fee is charged for the CAT Administrative Member post.
• Eligibility is assessed as on the last date of receipt, 20 December 2026.
• Applications received after the deadline, incomplete applications, or applications without every annexure will not be considered.
• DoPT accepts no responsibility for postal delay or loss; dispatch early and keep proof.
• No TA or DA is paid to shortlisted candidates for the interview or interaction.
• The number of vacancies may change because of administrative exigencies.
• A selected Member may be posted to any of the 19 CAT locations.
• Qualifications, salary and service conditions are governed by the NTC Rules, 2026 as amended from time to time.
• DoPT has asked all Ministries, State Governments and CAT to give the circular wide publicity, so forwarding authorities should already be aware of it.

15. Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the most commonly asked questions about the CAT Administrative Member Recruitment 2026. If your question is not answered here, refer to the official DoPT vacancy circular or contact the Under Secretary (AT) named in it.

16. Important Links

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)