Taking a top bureaucrat in the Ministry of Defence to task for trying to wash his hands off responsibility, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has held that the Secretary, Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare (DESW), in the Ministry is responsible for implementing the Tribunal’s orders concerning pensionary benefits and that the Service Headquarters have limited powers of delegation in this regard.

Putting an end to the question of whether the Secretary, DESW, can be summoned by the AFT for contempt over non-implementation of the court’s orders, the Bench observed that the DESW has an important role to play in implementation of Court orders and in exercise of its authority to lay down policy in pensionary matters, it interferes with the delegated authority of the Service Headquarters.

“The a

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