Section 8 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 - Term of Office

Section 8 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 deals with the term of office of the Chairman and Members of an Administrative Tribunal. The text of Section 8 must now be read together with the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021, which contains overriding provisions governing the tenure of Chairpersons and Members of tribunals listed in its First Schedule, including the Central Administrative Tribunal and State Administrative Tribunals.

Current legal position: Section 5 of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 provides that the Chairperson of a covered Tribunal holds office for four years or until the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier, and a Member holds office for four years or until the age of 67 years, whichever is earlier. The Act also contains a transitional proviso for certain appointments made between 26 May 2017 and 4 April 2021.

What does Section 8 mean?

In simple terms, Section 8 specifies how long the Chairman and Members may remain in office and sets age limits. However, for present-day appointments to the Central Administrative Tribunal and State Administrative Tribunals, the later Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 has to be considered because it operates notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force.

Text of Section 8 - Term of office

(1) The Chairman shall hold office as such for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office:

Provided that no Chairman shall hold office as such after he has attained the age of sixty-eight years.

(2) A Member shall hold office as such for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office extendable by one more term of five years:

Provided that no Member shall hold office as such after he has attained the age of sixty-five years.

(3) The conditions of service of Chairman and Members shall be the same as applicable to Judges of the High Court.

Section 8 and the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021

The Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 applies to tribunals specified in its First Schedule. The Central Administrative Tribunal and State Administrative Tribunals are expressly included in that Schedule. Section 5 of the 2021 Act lays down a later and overriding tenure framework.

Position	Section 8 text in the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985	Section 5, Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021
Chairman / Chairperson	Five years, subject to a maximum age of 68 years	Four years or age 70 years, whichever is earlier
Member	Five years, extendable by one further five-year term, subject to a maximum age of 65 years	Four years or age 67 years, whichever is earlier

Transitional appointments

The proviso to Section 5 of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 protects certain appointments made between 26 May 2017 and the notified date, 4 April 2021, where the appointment order prescribed a longer tenure or higher retirement age. Such protection is subject to the statutory ceiling stated in the proviso.

Eligibility for re-appointment

Section 6 of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 separately provides for eligibility for re-appointment in accordance with that Act. Therefore, the present tenure framework should not be understood by reading Section 8 of the 1985 Act in isolation.

Why the later law matters

The Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 uses a non-obstante formulation for the service conditions and tenure of covered tribunals. Because the Central Administrative Tribunal and State Administrative Tribunals are included in its First Schedule, current questions about term of office, retirement age and re-appointment should be checked against the 2021 Act, the applicable rules and the particular appointment order.

Official legal resources

Related provisions

Section 8 should be read with provisions concerning qualifications, resignation and removal, service conditions and other institutional provisions of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985. The related internal links are available in the sidebar.

Updated: 14 September 2026. This page is intended for general legal information and should be read with the latest statutory text, rules, notifications and applicable judicial decisions.