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Section 7 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007: Appointment of Chairperson and Other Members

Section 7 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 contains the original statutory provision for appointment of the Chairperson and other Members of the Armed Forces Tribunal. The current appointment process, however, must also be read with Section 9A of the AFT Act and the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, which establishes the present Search-cum-Selection Committee framework for appointments governed by that law.

Current-law note: Section 7 remains part of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007, but it should not be read as a complete statement of the present appointment process. Section 9A applies the later tribunal-reform framework to qualifications, appointment, term, salary, resignation, removal and other service conditions of the Chairperson and Members.

What does Section 7 of the AFT Act, 2007 provide?

Section 7(1): Subject to Section 7, the Chairperson and other Members of the Tribunal are to be appointed by the President.

Proviso to Section 7(1): No appointment under that sub-section is to be made except after consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

Section 7(2): The President may appoint one or more Members of the Tribunal as Vice-Chairperson or Vice-Chairpersons.

Current appointment framework under the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021

The Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 creates a common statutory framework for appointment of Chairpersons and Members of specified tribunals. For the Armed Forces Tribunal, that framework operates together with the AFT Act through Section 9A.

Issue Current legal position
Selection mechanism Appointments under the 2021 regime are made on the recommendation of a Search-cum-Selection Committee constituted under the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021.
Appointment authority The Central Government appoints the Chairperson or Member on the recommendation made under the statutory selection process, subject to the applicable constitutional and tribunal-specific provisions.
Qualifications Eligibility must be checked under the current qualification provisions, including the Tribunal (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2021, rather than Section 6 of the 2007 Act in isolation.
Minimum age Section 3 of the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 provides that a person who has not completed 50 years of age is not eligible for appointment as Chairperson or Member.

How is an AFT Chairperson or Member appointed now?

  1. The applicable vacancy and eligibility requirements are considered under the AFT Act, the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 and the Tribunal (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2021.
  2. The Search-cum-Selection Committee considers eligible candidates in accordance with the statutory framework.
  3. The Committee recommends a panel in the manner required by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021.
  4. The appointment is then made by the competent Government authority in accordance with the governing legislation and applicable appointment procedure.

Meaning and legal effect of Section 7

Section 7 identifies the original appointment structure enacted for the Armed Forces Tribunal. It reflects the importance Parliament attached to judicial consultation in constituting the Tribunal. Later tribunal-reform legislation introduced a common selection mechanism for a number of tribunals, including the Armed Forces Tribunal through the Act's later service-condition framework.

For a present-day appointment question, Section 7 therefore needs to be read together with Section 6 - Qualifications for appointment, Section 8 - Term of office, and Section 9 - Resignation and removal, as modified or supplemented by the current tribunal-reform regime.

Key points about Section 7

Official legal resources

Law reviewed and article updated: 7 September 2026.