THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the tenure of the remaining two judicial members coming to an end, there is an administrative crisis in the Kerala Administrative Tribunal. Ten months have passed since the term of the tribunal chairman expired. The term of the remaining members expired yesterday.

In view of the crisis, the High Court has directed them to continue till new members are appointed. However, there are already too many cases for them to handle. Tens of thousands of cases are pending as of yesterday.

The terms of Benny Gervasis and K Rajendran ended yesterday. The government has submitted a panel of four names to the High Court to fill their vacancies. The panel names R Ramababu, E Baiju, Govt. Pleader Sreelatha and E Ramesh, a relative of former Advocate General CP Sudhakar Prasad. Two of these must be determined. In the case submitted by the panel, the government opposed in the High Court the extension of term to the present members. However, in view of the administrative crisis, the court allowed them to stay temporarily. The new members are to be decided by a committee comprising the Chief Justice of the High Court, the PSC Chairman, the KAT Chairman and a representative of the Government. The appointment must be approved by the President.

Since KAT does not have a chairman, one of the two members whose term has now expired will be part of the committee as acting chairman. The term of Justice TR Ramachandran, the former chairman of KAT, ended last September. Instead, the state government submitted the name of Justice CK Abdul Rahim, but the Center did not make the appointment. The absence of the chairman also distorts the rhythm of the tribunal.