Govt committed to making Armed Forces Tribunal more empowered and responsive: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that the Government is committed to making the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) more empowered and responsive.

Addressing the gathering at a Seminar on ‘Introspection: Armed Forces Tribunal’, organized by Armed Forces Tribunal Principal Bench Bar Association today in New Delhi, he said that Armed Forces Tribunal will help in the speedy disposal of cases.

Singh added that domain-specific Tribunals were set up to deal with diverse cases and clear pending cases.

The Defence Minister also called for a balance between ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ and ‘Justice hurried is justice buried’ to lessen the burden of pendency on the judicial system in general and the Armed Forces Tribunal in particular. He said the timely delivery of justice will not only reduce the burden on Armed Forces Tribunal but will also reinforce the confidence of soldiers in the system.

He said, the judiciary is a strong pillar of democracy, and sound justice delivery system is the basis of “Suraj” or good governance.

Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju also spoke in the seminar stressing that Government was working to reduce the pendency of the cases. He stated that tribunals like Armed Forces Tribunal were playing a crucial role in reducing the pendency.