Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that the Armed Forces Tribunal is set to deal with pending cases.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that the Armed Forces Tribunal is set to deal with pending cases. “The government is adamant about making the Armed Forces Tribunal more empowered and responsive and is implementing measures that are required in this direction,” Singh said.
Addressing the gathering in a programme titled “Introspection: Armed Forces Tribunal” organised by the Armed Forces Tribunal Principal Bench Bar Association in New Delhi, he stated that the judiciary is one of the powerful cornerstones of the democratic system.
He continued by saying that when people have no other option, they eventually knock on the doors of the courts.
Rajnath Singh noted that domain-specific tribunals had been established to handle a variety of disputes and resolve open ones.
In order to alleviate the load of pending cases on the legal system in general and the Armed Forces Tribunal in particular, the Defence Minister emphasised striking a balance between “justice delayed is justice denied” and “justice hastened is justice buried.”
Rajnath Singh informed the gathering that in India, the Armed Forces Tribunal has both Original and Appellate Jurisdiction, whereas even today, some developed countries, such as the USA and UK, only have Appellate Jurisdiction.
Another prominent speaker at the seminar was Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju. He stressed that the government was working to reduce the pendency of the cases and that the Armed Forces Tribunal was playing a crucial role in reducing the pendency. The Chief of the Army Staff, General Manoj Pandey; the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhary; and the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, were also present on the occasion.
