SC Upheld Order passed by Armed Forces Tribunal

Supreme Court on February 12, 2018, dismissed petition filed by Commodore P.K. Banerjee against the judgment and order dated September 14, 2017  passed by Armed Forces Tribunal. Mr. Banerjee questioned the grading given to him in Annual Confidential Reports. According to him, this report plays the role of barrier in his promotion to next rank. Appellant raised that he was the top among his batchmate and as a result of this he was assigned several important tasks. He also said that because of his excellent work performance he was given the command of INS Tabar, the latest Talwar class ship. The grievance raised by Commodore was that rule of communication of adverse remarks to the report was not followed in his case.

The bench comprising of Justice A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhusan after going through the whole petition came to the conclusion that the assertion regarding the fact that appellant was at No.1 rank in merit list is not correct. The bench also found that all persons who were promoted were not below the petitioner in merit.

However, the court made some valuable remarks in favor of appellant.

The court said: “The work record of Appellant shows that he is very good officer. It also reflects that from time to time he has been given important assignments which he has been able to accomplish and discharge to the satisfaction of his superiors.

The court further added that:

“It can’t be denied that he has proved to be an important officer in the Navy. Such a person deserves to get what is legitimate due to him.”

Report By: SANDEEP (Student Reporter – INBA)