AFT ruling changes retirement age to 61; says it should not be challenged in Supreme Court

With selection for the post of DG AFMS coming up shortly, there is confusion on how to proceed with the appointment as the AFT order has changed the rules of the game.

A judgment by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) that has effectively changed the retirement age of Lt Gen level officers of the armed forces medical services has created controversy and uproar with the timing of the ruling having a direct bearing on the hierarchy of the service.

In a judgment that was released last week, the Principal Bench of the AFT has ruled that all officers of the medical services attaining the rank of a Lt Gen will now retire at the age of 61, overturning a decision of the government that set the age of retirement as 60 or a fixed tenure of two years. This will now directly affect the hierarchy of the organization as the top officer of the service - Director General Armed Forces Medical Service, Air Marshal DP Joshi - is set to retire next month.

Ruling in favour of two officers who approached the bench for lifting the retirement age - Surg Vice Admiral Shalesh Rohatgi and Air Marshal AK Behl - the tribunal has set aside a defence ministry order and has also declared that the case is not fit for an appeal before the Supreme Court as it does not 'involve any question of public importance'. The AFT has struck aside the tenure clause of the services that stipulated that LT Gen level officers have a fixed term of only two years and would retire at the age of 60. In case an officer could not complete a two year term by the age of 60, one year extension would be granted to him.

While both Rohatgi and Behl were to retire by the end of this month as per the original rules of the ministry after serving the tenure of two years, the AFT judgment will give them both an additional third year in office. Officials say that this is a rare intervention by the tribunal on a matter pertaining to retirement age of service officers.

More than that, officials say that Behl will now be eligible for the post of DG AFMS when Air Marshal Joshi retires end-October. In fact, Behl will become the DG AFMS by virtue of being the senior most officer next month after Joshi's retirement instead of LT Gen BK Chopra who was set to take over the top post.

"It had been clear for several months that Lt Gen Chopra would be the next DG AFMS by virtue of being the seniormost when Joshi retires. However, with the last minute extension given to Air Marshal Behl, the entire hierarchy has changed and he would be the senior most for the post," a senior armed forces medical services officer told India Today.

With selection for the post of DG AFMS coming up shortly, there is confusion on how to proceed with the appointment as the AFT order has changed the rules of the game.

However, sources say that the defence ministry may not pay heed to the tribunal's word of not approaching the Supreme Court in the matter and may in fact move the apex court shortly against the judgment.