ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL

AFT SPEEDY JUSTICE

Set up in 2009 with the purpose of providing speedy justice to service personnel, the Armed Forces Tribunal is still awaiting the government’s response on grant of more powers to make it effective and meaningful.

“It is a matter of great concern that an aggrieved party, despite getting a favourable order from the Tribunal, waits in vain for months to get it executed or implemented by the concerned authorities,” AFT Chairperson Justice G P Mathur told The Indian Express.

“We are helpless and cannot do much as under the Act, the Tribunal has no power to punish erring officers for non-implementation of our orders and directions. In a month, there are about 15-20 orders that are not being implemented, when disposal rate is roughly 100 cases on an average,” he adds.

Similar quasi-judicial bodies like Central Administrative Tribunal and apex consumer court tribunal have their own powers to punish officials for willfully disobeying orders, Justice Mathur notes.

He wrote to the Minister for Defence last September pointing out these anomalies in the AFT Act, 2007. “We got two replies saying the matter was under active consideration of the government... there has been no further action,” said a senior Tribunal officer. 

Justice Mathur recalled several cases where orders were passed last year and are yet to be implemented three months later. 

“We feel helpless that this tribunal cannot come to the rescue of persons despite the orders passed. It is a strange state of affairs and we are sorry to say that we cannot help the petitioner,” the Tribunal had observed.