LUCKNOW: The Supreme Court has sought responses from the centre and other authorities on a writ petition filed by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) bar association, Lucknow, seeking expeditious filling of vacancies in the AFT and continuation of serving members until new appointments are made.The petition, filed under article 32 of the constitution by AFT bar association president Kamal Kumar Singh Bisht, urges the govt to complete the selection process and fill all vacant posts in the tribunal within a stipulated time frame in accordance with Section 5 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007.On May 4, the Supreme Court issued notice on the petition and asked the attorney general for India to assist the court in adjudicating the matter. The case was subsequently listed before a three judge bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi.During the hearing, counsel Syed Hasan Isfahani and S M Mustafa for the AFT bar association submitted that if vacancies remain unfilled, only three of the tribunal’s 11 benches would remain functional by the end of the year, severely affecting access to justice for serving and retired armed forces personnel.The bench directed the attorney general to ensure that judicial and administrative members of the AFT whose tenure is due to expire before Sept 2026 are not disturbed until then, in line with an earlier SC order concerning tribunal appointments. The matter has been listed for admission hearing on July 13, 2026.Dharam Raj Singh, secretary of the AFT bar association said, “The order effectively extends the tenure of retiring AFT members, including Justice Anil Kumar of the Lucknow Bench, until Sep 2026.”
