JUDGMENT

Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, J. - Leave to appeal under Section 31(1) of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act 2007 is granted.

2. Delay condoned.

3. This batch of appeals arises from a judgment dated 3 January 2022 of the Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal¹["AFT"]. The AFT dismissed the applications challenging the denial of Permanent Commission²["PC"] in the Indian Navy. The principle issue is whether the AFT could have adjudicated on the validity of the selection proceedings when relevant material was disclosed only to the AFT in a sealed cover.

The Facts

4. On 26 September 2008, the Ministry of Defence notified that women Short Service Commission³[ "SSC"] Officers would be eligible for grant of PC prospectively. In Union of India v. Lieutenant Commander Annie Nagaraj, (2020) 13 SCC 1 the issue for consideration before this court was whether women who were inducted in various branches of the Indian Navy prior to 2008 were entitled to the grant of PC. By its judgment dated 17 March 2020, this Court observed, inter alia, that⁴[Paragraphs 109.5, 109.6 and 109.7 of the j