The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has scolded National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for premature repatriation of a defense officer without any valid reason. The highway authority had made vague arguments for his repatriation - "for the overall good of NHAI" - compelling tribunal to observe that the "order appears to be whimsical and smacks arbitrariness". In its order last week, CAT quashed the premature repatriation of N K Sharma, a chief general manager from NHAI and observed that Sharma shall be continued on his deputation post. "It is ironic that an officer who had been selected by the respondents out of 33 applications received after following a rigorous selection process and on the basis of the recommendation of a high-level committee has been prematurely repatriated without there being anything adverse against him on record. For this reason in our opinion, the impugned order is unsustainable and deserved to be quashed," a two-member bench of CAT said.