Full Text
HIGH COURT OF DELHI
W.P.(C) 12868/2021
EX RECT OPR SHASHI RANJAN KUMAR .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Ajit Kakkar, Mr Tejas Bhonge Advocates
Through: Mr. Siddhant Bajaj for Mr. Jagdish Chandra Solanki, CGSC
Anish Muralidhar Army
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE OM PRAKASH SHUKLA
JUDGMENT
15.12.2025 C. HARI SHANKAR, J.
1. The petitioner is aggrieved by his dismissal from service after he had been enrolled in the Indian Army by Discharge Certificate dated 13 December 2019.
2. In earlier orders passed in this case, the Court had noted the fact that this writ petition may be amenable to adjudication by the Armed Forces Tribunal[1].
3. Mr. Bajaj, appearing on behalf of Mr. Jagdish Chandra Solanki, learned CGSC, has drawn our attention to para 11 of the judgment of a Coordinate Bench of this Court in Ex. Recruit Himanshu Tewtia v. “AFT”, hereinafter UOI[2], which reads thus:
4. In the present case, the petitioner, even as per his own written submissions, was enrolled in the Army on 9 June 2018. The impugned order itself states that he was given Army No.15253477M Rect (OpR). The dismissal of the petitioner was also in terms of the Army Act, 1950 and Army Rules, 1954. Para 5 of the order of dismissal of the petitioner from service also reads as under:
5. Clearly, the lis in this petition is amenable to adjudication by the AFT.
6. We, therefore, relegate the petitioner to the AFT. Order dated 16 January 2023 in WP (C) 465/2023
7. However, as the petition has remained pending before this Court for four years, we are not requiring the petitioner to file the petition afresh before the AFT. We direct the Registry of this Court to transmit the record of this case forthwith to the AFT, within a period of one week from today.
8. The Registry of the AFT would assign a Transferred Application Number to this petition and list it before the appropriate Bench for adjudication. The appropriate Bench would treat the record of this writ petition as the record of the Tribunal and would proceed to decide the matter in accordance with law.
9. In order to expedite matters, we direct the parties to appear before the designated Bench of the AFT on 9 January 2026.
10. Needless to say, we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the dispute.
11. The writ petition stands disposed of, in the aforesaid terms.
C. HARI SHANKAR, J
OM PRAKASH SHUKLA, J DECEMBER 15, 2025