8 Aug : The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), which will adjudicate cases connected to service matters as well as appeals against court martial sentences, was inaugurated by the President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi on Saturday.
Set up by an Act of Parliament in December, 2007, the Armed Forces Tribunal will have its Principal Bench in New Delhi and eight regional benches spread across the country.
The Tribunal will have 15 courts in all, – three each in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow and one each in Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai and Kochi.
Aggrieved armed forces personnel will now be able to appeal against sentences handed down by the court-martial. The Tribunal will also have powers to grant bail to any person in military custody.
It is expected to be functional soon once the government issues the relevant notification.At present about 9,000 such cases are pending before various courts across the country, most of them with the High courts.