How fair is Army judicial system?
Parliamentary body on defence groping in the dark Harwant Singh THE Parliamentary Committee on Defence in its report, tabled in Parliament a few weeks ago, has severely criticised the Army judicial and redressal system. The stinging comments on the militarys judicial system are apparently due to the increasing number of personnel seeking relief from the civil courts. The number pending in the civil courts in 1992 was 1723, which jumped to 6024 in 2000. During the last year the civil courts decided 1100 cases but the fresh cases during the same year were 1500. The committee attributes this exodus to the civil courts to the loss of faith in the militarys internal arrangement for the redressal of the grievances and fairness of its judicial system. Mr KTS Tulsi, former Additional Solicitor-General, opines that General Court Martial (GCM) proceedings lay excessive emphasis on discipline and the hierarchical system. Obviously, Mr Tulsi feels that a halfway house to discipline is possible and
