This case arises out of a service matter as defined under Section 3(o) of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 (for brevity, ‘the Act of 2007’). In view of the constitution of the Armed Forces Tribunal at Chennai under Section 4 of the Act of 2007, Section 34 thereof comes into play. Section 34 speaks of transfer to such Tribunal of all pending cases before any Court, including a High Court, immediately before the date of establishment of the Tribunal. Though Section 14 of the Act of 2007 specifically excludes from the jurisdiction of the said Tribunal, the jurisdiction, powers and authority exercisable by the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution in relation to all service matters, pending writ petitions which deal with various aspects of service conditions of the armed forces would normally be dealt with by the Tribunal constituted under Section 4 of the Act of 2007. The issue of maintainability of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution in a service matter which comes within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal would have to be decided on a case to case basis. No objection is raised with regard to the transfer of this writ petition to the Armed Forces Tribunal under Section 34 of the Act of 2007.
