Caught in all these are some 9,000 soldiers - who have appealed against court-martials, service matters etc - as their cases are no more being entertained in most courts.
The Armed Forces Tribunal was to be the quick-fix solution to administrative woes of military personnel to dispose of their cases pending in civil courts. But it is turning out be slower.
Caught in all these are some 9,000 soldiers - who have appealed against court-martials, service matters etc - as their cases are no more being entertained in most courts. Now, soldiers cannot even approach the civil courts to resolve their issues.
About five months after Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur was appointed to head the Armed Forces Tribunal, the tenor of his communications with the ministry of defence indicates that nothing is going right with the tribunal. Incidentally, the tribunal was projected by the Manmohan Singh government as its key achievement for military welfare.
The tribunal, with benches all over India, hears all the cases of military personnel regarding pay, pension and other service matters. Besides, all appeals against court-martials can only be filed before the tribunal.
Any appeal against the tribunal would directly go to the Supreme Court.
The tribunal was set up because of the backlog of over 9,000 cases in courts across India. But the disposal of pending cases is very slow.
In the first phase, the government had plans to set up three benches each in Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow, besides one each in Jaipuru, Kolkota, Mumbai, Guwahati, Chennai and Kochi. Each of these benches would have a judicial member, who would be a retired high court judge, and an administrative member, who would be a retired military officer. The 14 retired military officers, all of them of the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent, were selected three months ago as administrative members, but till date their appointment has not been notified.
Across the cities, where the tribunals are to come up, the biggest military arm in that city was to provide logistical support. According to sources, tribunal has been provided pathetic infrastructure in most of these cities. In Mumbai, for example, they have offered the 7th floor in a highly-protected building, which is good enough to intimidate the litigant before he reaches the tribunal, argue sources. In Chandigarh, an old shed has been offered for the tribunal.
There are other grievances too. Justice Mathur has been seeking an official residence for himself, but the chairman, chiefs of staff committee has rejected the demand. The MOD including the minister is believed to have told the Justice that they are helpless with the military.
According government's original plans, the tribunal should have started functioning sometime in June of last year. But according to the present estimates, it may not be up and running even by June this year.
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