Ex-Army chief slams MoD ‘indifference’ to soldiers, widows

“We had approached the law minister with a proposal to set up an Armed Forces Tribunal which is equivalent to the High Court. The idea was to set up a tribunal whose decision could not be challenged in any other court, but the Supreme Court. It should be headed by the Chief Justice of the High Court or a judge from the Supreme Court,” he said.

However, the situation on ground is completely different. “In majority of the cases, the Ministry of Defence is not executing the orders of the tribunal and is also challenging its decision in the SC. Until the ministry stops challenging the decisions, poor claimants will continue to have problems,” the General said.

He added, “The system that has been given to us has now been corrupted because of the babus sitting in the department of ex-servicemen and challenging every decision.”

Earlier this month, the principal bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal, New Delhi, has also expressed its anguish over the non-implementation of its orders by the MoD. The AFT has observed how disabled soldiers and military widows are being embroiled in unethical litigation by the ministry.

In its order passed on September 4, Justice Prakash Tatia, Chairperson, AFT, and Lt Gen Sanjiv Langer, member, mentions, “The biggest hurdle in the working of the Armed Forces Tribunal is the non-execution of the orders passed by the tribunal.”

Taking note of this issue, the tribunal passed several orders reminding the Union of India and all its officers in the MoD as well as all those who are not directly under the Secretary, MoD, that the non-execution of the orders of the tribunal is a very serious issue.