A mixed (and slow) ruling from the Armed Forces Tribunal

On December 20, 2017, India's Armed Forces Tribunal got around to handing down its mixed decision in the case of a lieutenant general who had been court-martialed over eight years earlier for "unbecoming conduct" by affording preferential treatment in connection with a land scam. The officer's general court-martial conviction was affirmed on one out of three surviving specifications. The AFT left the sentence to dismissal intact but restored his pension rights with effect from the date of the judgment. Details here from the Indian Express. The 61-page order in Prakash v. Union of India, AFT Dkt. No. 469/2013 (Delhi Bench 2017), can be found here. The two-member bench stated that the decision was not precedential and limited to the specific facts and circumstances (the accused's long creditable service).

The litigation proceeded at a slow pace:

• Court of Inquiry completed, Dec. 5, 2009
• Show Cause Notice, Jan. 11, 2010
• Show Cause Notice withdrawn, disciplinary action notice issued, Jan. 29, 2010
• AFT grants partial relief, Feb. 2, 2010
• Supreme Court dismisses petition, Sept. 9, 2010
• Completion of general court-martial, Dec. 3, 2011
• Confirmation of proceedings, May 21, 2012
• Post-confirmation petition filed, July 2012
• Post-confirmation petition denied, Aug. 14, 2013
• AFT case filed, sometime between Aug. 14 and Dec. 31, 2013
• AFT decision, Dec. 20, 2017

The AFT took roughly four years to decide the case.