INAUGURATION OF REGIONAL BENCH, SRINAGAR AT JAMMU

Jalandhar, November 25, 2016: Hon’ble Mr.Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar Hon’ble Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir inaugurated the full fledged Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) at Military Station Sunjuwan, Jammu today. The ceremony was presided over by Hon’ble Mr.Justice B.P Katakey, Officiating Chairperson, Armed Forces Tribunal, New Delhi.

The Government of India in the second phase, sanctioned two Regional Benches, one at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, which was notified on 09 July 2016, and the Srinagar Bench at Jammu on 17 November 2016. The Bench since then functioned as a circuit Bench of Chandigarh Bench. The establishment of the full fledged Regional Bench has mitigated the problem relating to long journey to Chandigarh faced by the Armed Forces Personnel and their families. The official notification issued by Ministry of Defence, under S.R.O. 12(E), “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (4) of section 5 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 (55 of 2007), the Central Government hereby notifies the Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Srinagar (temporarily to be located in Jammu) with effect from the 17th day of November, 2016, which shall have jurisdiction within the territorial limits of the State of Jammu and Kashmir”.

The other guests included Hon’ble Mr. Justice BS Walia, Judge Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Hon’ble Mr. Justice V.K Shali, Member, AFT, New Delhi, Vice Admiral A.G Thapliyal, Administrative Member Jammu Bench, Major General S.K Sharma, General Officer Commanding, Tiger Division, Mr. A.K Kaul, Registrar General of Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Ms. Sindhu Sharma, ASG Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Mr. Arun Kheda, Principal Secretary to the Hon’ble officiating Chairman and Mr. G.P Mogha, Principal Registrar, AFT, New Delhi.

The Bench thanked the efforts of Mr. Jang Bahadur Singh Jamwal, Former Registrar of this Bench for his sincere and dedicated efforts to find the present building to house it. He worked like a one man Army with no infrastructure with the active support of the local Army Station Commander and his dedicated staff. He liaised with the Army authorities without whose cooperation, it would not have been possible to have the Bench functional on time.

It is for the first time, in the history of the AFT that on the date of inauguration of the Bench, the free Legal Aid Clinic has been inaugurated.

Besides the Principal Bench in New Delhi, AFT has Regional Benches at Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai and Jaipur.