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What is Military Laws?

What is the need for Military Laws?

How is Military Laws legally recognized in India?

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About the Military Laws

Indian Military Laws draw their origins from British Military Laws, primarily due to the prolonged British Rule in India. After Independence, a need for revising laws related to the military forces was felt which led to the enactment of The Army Act 1950, The Air Force Act 1950 and the Navy Act 1957.

The Army Act, 1950

The Air Force Act 1950

The Navy Act 1957

The Armed Forces Tribunal Act 2007

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act – grants special powers to the armed forces w.r.t “disturbed areas”

The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976 – for purposes of declaring an area as ‘disturbed’.

Initially there was no provision regarding appeals from the orders of Court Martial. Then in the case of ;Lt. Col. Prithi Pal Singh Bedi etc v. Union of India & Others” it was observed that absence of even one Appeal from the order of Courts Martial is a glaring lacuna in the country regarding the rights of the Armed forces personnel, subsequently the Acts were amended however the observations were not fully implemented. Eventually ‘The Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007’ was passed as per which there is original as well as appellate jurisdiction.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is a very controversial legislation. This statute provides unique powers to Armed forces when they are in operation in disturbed areas. Some powers are:

o Power to arrest without warrant any person suspected of being engaged in a cognizable offence

o Army officers enjoying legal immunity over their actions

o Power to enter a premise and carry on ‘search’ without warrants

o Power of making usage of any degree of force after giving a warning.

Supreme Court observed that the military litigants cannot appeal against orders of the Armed Forces Tribunal to the High Court under Article 227, and against those orders for which appeal to the Supreme Court lies under Section 31 (1) of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act.

As per the case of ;Union of India V. Manoj Deswal , discharging of personnel on unauthorised leave without show cause notice is allowed.