HC can hear writ petitions against AFT orders: SC

HC can hear writ petitions against AFT orders: SC 

Vijay Mohan/TNS

Chandigarh, September 15
The Supreme Court has made it clear that high courts shall continue hearing cases challenging decisions of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) and that the pendency of appeals in the apex court on the issue of jurisdiction will not be an impediment for high courts to entertain writ petitions against AFT orders.

The court made these observations while taking up matters concerning the jurisdiction of high courts over orders passed by the AFT.

The Delhi High Court had in a decision earlier ruled that though the AFT Act provided for an appeal to the Supreme Court, the writ jurisdiction of high courts could not be ousted.

The high court had further ruled that the AFT was manned by personnel appointed by the executive and could not be a substitute for the Constitutional high court. Similar directions were passed for the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) by a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court in 1997. The Central Government had challenged the verdict of the Delhi High Court in the apex court.

Legal experts say though the AFT Act provides for a direct appeal to the Supreme Court, it restricts it only to questions of “general public importance” and that too not as a matter of right but after obtaining a “leave to appeal” to the Supreme Court from the AFT, practically making the AFT the first and the last court for defence personnel.

The high court decision on its jurisdiction over orders of the AFT had come as a relief to many ex-servicemen since they were unable to bear heavy cost of litigation in the Supreme Court, where even the admission of appeals was subject to the certification of involvement of a question of general public importance.

Ex-servicemen were perturbed over the lack of judicial independence of the AFT, and rejection of many of their claims of disability pension and other benefits, which were later granted by various high courts with strong observations against their denial by the AFT.

Affected ex-servicemen feel that decisions of high courts besides being independent and of non-government leaning were also implemented properly by the authorities unlike decisions of the AFT which were simply ignored by the Ministry of Defence.

Jurisdiction tangle

The Delhi HC had ruled that though the Armed Forces Tribunal Act allowed appeal to the SC, the writ jurisdiction of high courts could not be undermined
The HC decision had come as a relief for ex-servicemen who were finding it hard to bear heavy litigation cost of the SC
The Central Government later challenged the Delhi HC verdict in the apex court
The SC made it clear that high courts could continue hearing cases challenging decisions of the AFT

Source : Trribune