The Supreme Court has today pointed that the Armed Forces Tribunals (AFT) across the country are doing much better than any other tribunals, for the simple reason that AFTs have the right mix of judicial and military/ expert members.
A bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Abhay S Oka talking about the plight of tribunals in general across the country, said that many of them are not able to effectively hear time-sensitive matters.
Justice Kaul said that its about time that some out of the box thinking takes place So many statutes have limitations, but the matters are not heard on time. If you have specialised tribunals, these are not manned.
Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi added that best way for increasing efficiency is that the practice of posting judges who are unfamiliar with specialised matters in tribunals should be done away with.
Advocate Rohtagi added the retired judge syndrome must end. Those in TDSAT or electricity tribunals would have never dealt with such matters in their life. And the other members on the coram with them then cannot say thing.
Justice Kaul emphasized on the need of having the right mix of judicial and expert members in tribunals and said that that the reason why Armed Forces Tribunals, work best with the balance of judicial and military members.
The Court was hearing an election petition which had been rendered infructuous.
While the hearing was on, Justice Kaul highlighted the importance of hybrid hearing. He added that,with the advent of technology, people can appear from anywhere. There should be hybrid hearings at every level I feel, it is a great facility.