Tribunals' independence at issue in Supreme Court of India case

The Supreme Court of India has listed for review a case addressing the independence of the Armed Forces Tribunal. Global Military Justice Reform contributor Navdeep Singh is counsel on the special leave petition. Other petitions listed by the Court address the independence of the Company Law and Debt Recovery Tribunals. All of these tribunals are located within ministries other than the Ministry of Justice. This report in The Hindustan Times has details on the objectionable aspects of the current arrangements. Among them:

The reply [filed by Major Singh] has also placed on record documents that show that a former defence minister had "approved" appointments on the AFT even after a committee led by an apex-court judge had selected the the members. It also mentions that the defence secretary, against whom all orders of the AFT are to be passed, sits in selection of members, including former high court judges; and also sits on the committee for their reappointment.