ASG Aishwarya Bhati Appointed As Member Of Commonwealth Military Justice Body, 2nd Indian To Join The Group

ASG Aishwarya Bhati has been appointed as a member of the Commonwealth Global Consultation Body, becoming the second Indian to join the group. Earlier this year, Punjab & Haryana High Court lawyer Major Navdeep Singh was appointed as a member of the Five-Member Advisory Committee on Military Justice of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is engaged in a project to assist and promote the reform of military justice systems.

The Commonwealth is an international body comprising 56 nations and promotes democracy, good governance, peace and the rule of law.

The Advisory Committee, under the Office of Civil and Criminal Justice Reform (OCCJR), would handle requests from member countries for assistance in military justice reform and other related matters, such as legislative transformation. The Advisory Committee is currently actively engaged in drafting the Commonwealth Military Justice Principles, to which the Consultation Group will provide input.

Other Members of the Advisory Committee are Judge Alan Large of the United Kingdom, Chief Judge Kevin Riordan of New Zealand, Dr Michelle Nel, the Vice Dean of University of Stellenbosch of South Africa and Professor Eugene Fidell of the Yale University, USA.

Aishwarya Bhati is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court and currently the Additional Solicitor General of India. She had represented the petitioners in the landmark judgment which authorised ‘permanent commission’ to women officers of the defence services.

Navdeep Singh, a Chandigarh based lawyer was also the member of the High-Level Committee of Experts constituted by the Defence Minister on directions of the Prime Minister in 2015 to reduce litigation initiated by the Ministry of Defence and to strengthen the system of redressal of grievances. He is a former Territorial Army volunteer-reservist and was the first President of the Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association, Chandigarh Bench.