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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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