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Union of India & Ors. vs Parashotam Dass (Civil Appeal No. 447 of 2023, part of a batch judgment)

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 265Decided 21 Mar 2023
Civil Appeal No. 447 of 2023
Sanjay Kishan Kaul · Abhay S. Oka · B.V. Nagarathna

Background

The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) was set up in 2007 to give defence personnel an independent forum to challenge decisions on service matters and courts-martial. A legal question arose across a batch of pending matters, including the Union of India's own challenge to a High Court order in favour of Parashotam Dass, as to whether an AFT order could still be challenged before a High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution, given an earlier Supreme Court ruling (Major General Shri Kant Sharma) that had suggested such a bar. The Supreme Court heard all these connected matters together to settle the general legal question before dealing with each individual case.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the earlier ruling in Major General Shri Kant Sharma does not lay down the correct law and conflicts with Constitution Bench decisions (including L. Chandra Kumar, S.N. Mukherjee, and Rojer Mathew). There is no blanket bar on a High Court's power of judicial review over AFT orders under Article 226, except in matters of pure internal service discipline. Having settled this general principle, the Court then dealt with each connected case individually. For the Union of India's own appeal against Parashotam Dass specifically, the Court held that since it raised no point of law of general public importance, it should be considered on its merits by a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court separately, rather than being decided within this larger batch ruling.

Lesson Learnt

Even a dedicated tribunal like the Armed Forces Tribunal does not oust the High Court's constitutional power of judicial review under Article 226: that safeguard survives except in narrow areas of pure internal military discipline.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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