What is AFT ?

AFT stands for Armed Forces Tribunal. The Armed Forces Tribunal came into existence on 8th August 2009 under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act 2007. The Act was passed by the Parliament and AFT was formed with the power provided for the adjudication or trial by Armed Forces Tribunal of disputes and complaints with respect to commission, appointments, enrolments and conditions of service in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, 1950, The Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950.

Principal Bench and Regional Benches of AFT in India

Armed Forces Tribunal Principal Bench is situated in New Delhi. AFT has Regional Benches at various states/UTs as mentioned below:

Chandigarh

Lucknow

Kolkata

Guwahati

Chennai

Kochi

Mumbai

Jabalpur

Srinagar

Jaipur

Composition of Regional Benches

With the exception of the Chandigarh and Lucknow Regional Benches, which have three benches each, all other locations have a single bench. Each Bench comprises of a Judicial Member and an Administrative Member.

Qualification of Members

The Judicial Members are retired High Court Judges and Administrative Members are retired Members of the Armed Forces who have held rant of Major General/ equivalent or above for a period of three years or more, Judge Advocate General (JAG), who have held the appointment for at least one year are also entitled to be appointed as the Administrative Member.

Operations of AFT

The AFT transacts their proceedings as per the Armed Forces Tribunal ( Procedure) rules, 2008. All proceedings in the Tribunal is done in English. The Tribunal is normally follow the procedure as is practiced in the High Courts of India. AFT is functioning in compliance of AFT Procedure 2008

Who can File a case in AFT ?

All Serving and Retired personnel of Indian Armed Forces can approach the AFT on the matters related to Armed Forces as mentioned in the AFT Act. One can submit petition at his own or through an authorized agent or legal practitioner (Advocate).

Mode of submission

The Petition can be submitted at the Concerned AFT under which jurisdiction the applicant belongs to. The applicant may submit his petition in person or by courier along with Acknowledgement slip.

AFT Case File Rules and Procedure

The Application/petition can be submitted in prescribed format in Form I duly typed clearly. As per Rule 4 of AT Procedure 2008, the application under sub rule 1 can be submitted in two different compilations.

(a) Compilation 1 comprises Application alongwith an attested true copy of the impugned order against which the application is filed.

(b) Compilation 2 comprises all other documents and annexures relied upon by the applicant and referred to in application in book paper format.

To know the details process you may read the AFT Procedure 2008

Language of AFT Case filing

One can file application to the AFT generally in English.

Fees to be paid for AFT case Filing

As per Section 7 of AFT Procedure 2008, A Fee of Rs 250/- to be paid to the AFT for filing any sort of application.

Where to file AFT cases

Jurisdiction of area is defined in the AFT Rules. The applicant can file his application only at his AFT jurisdiction. Details are available at official website of Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).

How to Prepare Application and Documents required

Please Click here to know about content writing of AFT Case file.

Since the filing of application is required technical knowledge of rules and orders, one can file application at his own if he/she is well conversant of the Military acts and rules, otherwise may approach any Legal Practitioner at the AFT concerned.

AFT Case Filing for Disability Pension

Most of the AFT cacses are filed due to non recceipt of disability pension at NA NA Cases. Such exservicemen may get all related referencces and disability rules in the article on Supreme Court Order on disability pension in this website.