Supreme Court: No Permanent Bench for Armed Forces Tribunal in Uttarakhand

The Supreme Court of India held that the establishment of a permanent Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in Uttarakhand was not justified based on the current workload. The Court emphasized that exceptional circumstances are required to warrant such a decision and found that the volume of cases in this instance did not meet that criteria. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, setting aside the High Court's order. The Union of India was directed to ensure expeditious hearing and disposal of cases from Uttarakhand pending before the Armed Forces Tribunal's circuit bench.

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Issues: Establishment of a permanent Bench of Armed Forces Tribunal in the State of Uttarakhand.

In the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of India, the issue revolved around the establishment of a permanent Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in the State of Uttarakhand. The High Court of Uttarakhand had directed the establishment of such a Bench, which was challenged by the Union of India on the grounds that the volume of work did not justify the need for a permanent Bench as there were only 220 cases. The Supreme Court, after considering the matter, held that the decision regarding the establishment of a permanent Bench should not solely be a judicial determination unless exceptional circumstances warrant it. The Court emphasized that the present case did not meet such criteria. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, and the order of the High Court was set aside. The Union of India was directed to ensure that cases from Uttarakhand pending before the Armed Forces Tribunal are heard and disposed of expeditiously by the circuit bench.

In a separate order by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, special leave to appeal was granted in terms of the signed order, leading to the disposal of all pending applications related to the case.

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