High Court sets aside AFT ruling, orders fresh evaluation in case against Army officers

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed a fresh evaluation by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) on the maintainability and merits of a disciplinary case involving a colonel and another officer.

The decision by the Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma came after the AFT initially dismissed the officers' plea on grounds of maintainability and further adjudicated on the merits—actions the high court deemed procedurally flawed and prejudicial to the petitioners.

The officers, alleged to have engaged in procedural and financial irregularities in a 2018 tendering process, faced multiple Courts of Inquiry and eventual disciplinary proceedings. Following these inquiries, a Court Martial was convened in January 2023.

However, the officers challenged the dismissal of their plea by the AFT, asserting that the tribunal, after declaring the matter non-maintainable, had no jurisdiction to address substantive merits. This, they argued, prevented a fair hearing on their part, as they would be estopped from raising key defenses before the competent authority.

Citing Section 15 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, which delineates the tribunal’s jurisdictional limits, the high court quashed the AFT's decision, remanding the case for a fresh adjudication.

The court asserted that, since the tribunal had jurisdictional competence to assess the validity of the preliminary findings under Section 15, it must reconsider the matter without a presumption of non-maintainability or preemptive rulings on merits.

“The impugned order dated December 13, 2023, is quashed and set aside. The lis (litigation) is remanded to the AFT concerned for the making of a fresh decision thereon even on merits. The re-decision on merits shall be made by the Bench of the AFT concerned without its becoming influenced by the earlier made decision on the merits of the lis,” the Bench concluded.