3 Armed Forces Tribunal benches have zero members: Lok Sabha data

3 of 11 Armed Forces Tribunal benches currently have no members sitting at all, according to data placed before the Lok Sabha.

The benches at Srinagar (functioning out of Jammu), Jabalpur and Guwahati each have 2 vacancies against a sanctioned strength of 2.

The data was tabled by the Ministry of Defence in response to a question by Hyderabad Member of Parliament (MP) Asaduddin Owaisi. It shows that of 34 sanctioned member posts across the AFT's Principal Bench and 10 regional benches, 12 are vacant. Of 564 sanctioned staff posts, 205 are vacant.

Staff vacancies are highest at Guwahati, where 22 of 34 sanctioned posts are vacant (~65%), and at Kolkata, where 23 of 40 are vacant (~58%).

The Principal Bench at New Delhi is the only one with no member vacancies. However, 38 of its 103 staff posts remain vacant (~37%).

Owaisi had also asked (a) whether more than 35,000 cases were pending before the AFT, (b) a bench-wise break-up of pendency and (c) how long such cases had been pending.

The Ministry's reply to all three was just two words - "No sir."

Parts (b) and (c) only applied if the 35,000 figure was true. The Ministry said "No" to that figure, so it never had to answer (b) and (c). The actual number of currently pending cases was not disclosed. Yet, the same reply gives exact vacancy numbers for every bench, right down to individual posts. The Ministry clearly can produce detailed numbers, but it chose not to based on a technicality.

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