By IANS
New Delhi : President Pratibha Patil has given her assent to a bill to establish a tribunal to adjudicate disputes and complaints of armed forces personnel relating to appointments, enrolment and service conditions.
Patil signed the bill Dec 25, 2007 but the official announcement about this was made only on Monday.
Parliament passed the bill in the first week of December.
The Armed Forces Tribunal, the military version of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), will be independent of the country’s judicial system and will have benches in all major regions of the country.
The tribunal will address the “genuine grievances” of the armed forces and also ensure that discipline in the defence services is not impacted.
The bill provides for appeals against orders, findings or sentences of courts-martial held under the Army Act, the Navy Act and the Air Force Act, all of which will be modified.
There are, at present, over 9,000 cases of armed forces pending before various courts in the country, while 125 cases are awaiting the Supreme Court verdicts.
All these cases will be transferred to the tribunal when it becomes fully functional.