ASG Aishwarya Bhati Appointed as Member of Global Commonwealth Consultation Group on Military Justice

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) of India Aishwarya Bhati has been appointed a member of the global consultation group of the Commonwealth, an international organization that advocates for democracy, good governance, peace, and the rule of law.

ASG Bhati becomes the second Indian to join the global military justice body. Advocate (Major) Navdeep Singh, who practices primarily at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was earlier named to the five-member Military Justice Advisory Committee established by the Commonwealth Secretariat earlier this year.

Bhati, a Senior Advocate practicing primarily at the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court, played a pivotal role in representing petitioners in a case that led to a landmark judgment granting permanent commission to women in the armed forces.

Previously, Aishwarya Bhati, as senior counsel, and Navdeep Singh have collaborated on matters concerning service jurisprudence, tribunals, and the military. Bhati has also contributed a chapter on women in the military for the book “March to Justice: Global Military Law Landmarks,” edited by Singh.

Comprising 56 nations, the Commonwealth functions as an international entity. The Commonwealth Secretariat is considering formulating model military justice principles.

Significant progress has been made in the field of military justice, including the formulation of the United Nations Principles Governing the Administration of Justice Through Military Tribunals, known as the ‘Decaux Principles.’ These principles were further refined during a meeting at Yale Law School in March 2018, attended by global jurists and UN representatives, resulting in the Yale Draft.

The guiding focus of these principles is to ensure the independence, competence, and impartiality of military justice processes.