The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) Chandigarh Bench Bar Association has gone on indefinite strike in protest against the AFT chairperson's decision to transfer a judicial member from the city to Kolkata. In a statement, the president and secretary of the bar association said, “In view of the shocking development of the sudden, unethical and uncalled-for transfer of Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary, Judicial Member-cum-Head of Department of the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal, which is a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary, the AFT Bar Association shall abstain from work till further orders”. The statement added that the independence of judiciary is the foremost principle of any democracy and the members of the bar association must stand together as one. Terming the transfer of Justice Chaudhary as a “direct assault on the Independence of Judicial functioning of the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT)”, the bar association has also written to Chief Justice of India Justice D Y Chandrachud. The bar association has alleged that Justice Chaudhary, a former acting chief justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, has been transferred because “he refused to buckle under the pressure of the MoD (Ministry of Defence) and presumably the Chairperson, who did not want uncomfortable orders to be passed against the senior functionaries of MoD”. “The message is loud and clear that if you pass orders for strict compliance of judgments against senior government functionaries, then this will be the result and hence all members should refrain from passing strict orders against senior MoD officials,” the bar association said in its letter to CJI Chandrachud. It added it is heartbreaking that after steps were taken to get the orders of the AFT executed which had been lying unimplemented since last so many years, the AFT chairperson first transferred the contempt proceedings from the Chandigarh Bench to himself and then also transferred the judicial member who was ensuring the compliance and adherence to the rule of law thereby saving judicial dignity. “Not only that, the Chairperson also transferred the execution proceedings pending in the other Benches of the Principal Bench to his own Bench,” the letter added. The bar association informed CJI Chandrachud that ATF’s functioning comes under MoD, which provides all facilities, salaries, staff, and infrastructure to the Chairperson and the Tribunal, and this reflects a total conflict of interest. The association pointed out this was in contempt of the law laid down by the Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court in UOI Vs R Gandhi (2010) and Madras Bar Association Vs UOI (2021) wherein it was held that the Tribunal cannot be made to function under the parent ministries against which it has to pass orders and should be made to be function under the Ministry of Law and Justice or the National Tribunal Commission. “The continued functioning of the AFT under MoD is a contempt of the above two judgments of the Supreme Court. You may also have to reconsider whether this process of extension/re-appointment of Chairperson and Members affects their independence since the same has been eschewed in the National Tax Tribunal case-Madras Bar Association Vs UOI (2014)”. “In view of the above, you are most humbly requested to save the dignity of the institution, the majesty of law and judicial independence, and take strict action in the matter by treating this as a letter petition by quashing the said transfer which is a colourable exercise of power and by removing the AFT immediately from the control of the MoD so that the confidence of litigants and the legal fraternity is not threatened,” the association said in its letter to the CJI.
