NAIB SUBEDAR NARESH CHAND Vs UNION OF INDIA .
Bench: T.S. THAKUR,VIKRAMAJIT SEN
Case number: C.A. No.-011017-011017 / 2013
Diary number: 1231 / 2012
Advocates: KUMUD LATA DAS Vs
B. V. BALARAM DAS
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NON-REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 11017 OF 2013 [Arising out of S.L.P.(C)No.5406 of 2012]
Naib Subedar Naresh Chand …..Appellant
Versus
Union of India & Ors. …..Respondents
J U D G M E N T
VIKRAMAJIT SEN, J.
1. Leave granted. This Appeal assails the order dated 31.5.2011 of the
Armed Forces Tribunal (for short, ‘AFT’), Principal Bench, New
Delhi pronounced in O.A. No.63 of 2010.
2. In Union of India v. Brigadier P.S. Gill (2012) 4 SCC 463 this
Court speaking through one of us, Thakur J, has opined that there is
no vested right of appeal to the Supreme Court against the final
decision of the AFT and accordingly it is imperative that every
appeal to the Supreme Court should be preceded by a plea made
before the AFT to the effect that the controversy raises a question of
law of general public importance. In the event that the AFT
disagrees it is necessary for the Appellant to apply for leave of this
Court in terms of Section 31 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act,
2007 (for short, ‘the Act’). The Appellant has neither approached
the AFT for leave to appeal under Section 31 of the Act nor has he
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C.A,@ SLP(C)No 5406/12 …. (contd.)
filed any application for grant of leave to appeal without pursuing
former course.
3. A perusal of the impugned Order discloses that the Appellant has
been granted substantial relief by the AFT in that a direction has
been issued to the Respondents to reckon his seniority in the rank of
Naik w.e.f. 1.4.1988 with all consequential benefits without effect
on pay and allowances except for the pension that he will be entitled
to draw as Sub; had his case been correctly disposed off he would
have retired as Sub and, therefore, financial dues only effecting his
pension shall be paid w.e.f. 31.3.2009 i.e. the date of his retirement
from service. The Respondents had made a futile effort for
correction of the Judgment on the grounds that the Appellant’s date
of retirement was 31.7.2009 and therefore the relevant date should
have been 31.7.2009 and not 31.3.2009. The AFT however, found
no reason for altering its Judgment since it appears that the date
31.3.2009 was found relevant as persons junior to the Appellant had
been promoted to the rank of Naik on that date.
4. The Appeal discloses that it has been filed because the AFT had
only partly allowed the Original Application and had failed to grant
promotion to the Appellant to the rank of Subedar with effect from
1.3.2009; that the AFT erred in omitting to direct the Respondents to
grant to the Appellant ante-dated seniority in the rank of Paid Acting
Naik with effect from 1.4.1988; the rank of Havildar with effect
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C.A,@ SLP(C)No 5406/12 …. (contd.)
from 1.1.1991; the rank of Naib Subedar with effect from 1.1.2006
and the rank of Subedar with effect from 1.3.2009.
5. We have carefully considered the impugned Judgment but are unable
to locate the reasons that have persuaded the AFT to grant only
partial relief. There can be no gainsaying that where a component
of the relief prayed for is being denied it is an imperative that
reasons should be disclosed for doing so. This is as important as
justifying the grounds on which the grant of relief is predicated. We
would be handicapped and accordingly remiss in taking up the issue
of the reliefs that have not been granted, without having the benefit
of the views of the AFT, especially since our decision will have
widespread ramifications.
6. It is for these reasons that we think it unnecessary to go into the
question whether the Appeal is maintainable for failure to adhere to
the dicta in Brigadier P.S. Gill. Accordingly, the Appeal is
disposed of granting the Appellant a period of sixty days within
which to approach the AFT for appropriate remedy.
............................................J. [T.S. THAKUR]
............................................J. [VIKRAMAJIT SEN]
New Delhi December 13, 2013.
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