23 out of 34 posts of Armed Forces Tribunal vacant; 19,000 cases pending, MoD tells Parliament

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 10

Close to 70 per cent posts of judicial and administrative members in the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) are lying vacant, with almost 19,000 cases pending before its various benches across the country.

Against the sanctioned strength of 34 members only 11 are currently occupied, the Minister of State for Defence, Shripad Naik told Parliament on March 10 while replying to Lok Sabha member from Jaipur, Col Rajyavardhan Rathore.

The AFT has 17 posts of judicial members, who should have earlier served as a judge of the High Court and an equal number of administrative members who are senior retired armed forces officers.

According to the Ministry of Defence’s data, only four judicial members and six administrative members at holding post across the Tribunal’s 11 benches that make up a total of 17 courts.

Three benches have three courts each while the remaining have one court each.

The data shows that with the present strength, only three benches at New Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow have judicial members posted on their strength. Out of three courts each, only two at Delhi and one each at Chandigarh and Lucknow are functional.

Three other benches at Mumbai, Kochi and Chennai, that have a single court each, have only one administrative member present. The remaining five benches at Srinagar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Guwahati and Jabalpur do not have any judicial or administrative member at present.

In September 2020, the central government had appointed one judicial member and five administrative members to the AFT. The rules governing the appointment of members, that were modified by the government in 2017, were challenged before the Supreme Court, which struck them down in 2019. New Rules framed in 2020 were also challenged in the Apex Court, which had passed directions on the issue in November 2020  

Established in 2009, the AFT’s mandate is jurisprudence over matters related to the commission, appointments, enrolments and conditions of service in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, the Navy Act, and the Air Force Act, and hear appeals arising out of orders, findings or sentences of courts-martial and disciplinary proceedings.

The Ministry’s data also shows that till February 28, 2021, a total of 18,829 cases were pending for disposal before its 11 benches. The highest pendency is before the Principal Bench at Delhi with 5,553 cases, followed by Chandigarh Bench with 4,512 cases and Jaipur Bench with 3,154 cases. Guwahati and Jabalpur benches have the lowest pendency with 104 and 347 cases, respectively.