The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking the appointment of "experienced" advocates and the filling of vacancies in Armed Forces Tribunals across the country [Ishan Gill vs Union of India].A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra emphasized that the appointment process is open to all lawyers and that presiding committees overseeing appointments are headed by Supreme Court judges.
"Any lawyer can apply whenever advertising is there ... Presiding Committees are headed by Supreme Court judges," CJI Chandrachud said.
The petitioner replied that out of the seventeen benches in the Armed Forces Tribunals, only four were operational in 2021, and they were grappling with a caseload of around 19,000 cases.The bench, however, was not inclined to entertain the matter, opining that it was wrong to demand that the Court order for only "experienced" advocates to be appointed."Your petition is wrong. We cannot just say appoint experienced advocates. We have explained ourselves. Dismissed," CJI Chandrachud said.Accordingly, the petition was dismissed
TAGS: Supreme Court PIL Armed Forces Tribunal Appointments Experienced Advocates Dismissed
