Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association at Chandigarh to abstain from work protesting transfer of Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary

The Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association (AFT Bar Association) at Chandigarh has decided to abstain from work indefinitely to protest the transfer of judicial member Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary from Chandigarh to the Kolkata bench of the AFT.

In a resolution passed by the Executive Committee of the AFT Bar on Monday, it said that the transfer was a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary.

Hence, it was decided that the AFT Bar Association would abstain from work until further orders.

Earlier, the bar body had written to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud taking strong objection to the AFT chairperson's decision to transfer Justice Chaudhary.

In a strongly worded letter sent to the CJI on Monday, the AFT Bar alleged that Justice Chaudhary's transfer was a consequence of the strict orders passed by him against senior government officials of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

"The chairperson of AFT, whose extension is due in Nov 2023, has suddenly transferred the Judicial Member-cum-Head of Department (HOD) of Chandigarh bench, former acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary, because he refused to buckle under pressure of the MoD and presumably the chairperson, who did not want uncomfortable orders to be passed against the senior functionaries of MoD," the letter claimed.

The letter also asserted that the transfer was a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary and requested the CJI to quash the same.