Back
High Court Of Delhi
UNION OF INDIA - Appellant
Versus
MAJOR K.K.TANEJA - Respondent
L.P.A. 11 of 1988
Decided On : 11/14/1990
ARMY ACT - DISMISSAL FROM SERVICE - CONFIRMATION OF SENTENCE - JURISDICTION - COMPETENT AUTHORITY - ARMY ORDERS 1968, PARA 471.
Fact of the Case:
The respondent, a commissioned officer in the Indian Army, was charged with using criminal force on a woman with the intention to outrage her modesty. A General Court Martial found him guilty and sentenced him to forfeit 5 years of service for promotion and a severe reprimand. The sentence was sent to Major General Bhardwaj, General Officer Commanding 19 Infantry Division, for confirmation. He directed the General Court Martial to reconsider the sentence, which was revised to dismissal from service. The revised sentence was confirmed by the Chief of Army Staff.
Finding of the Court:
The Delhi High Court quashed the dismissal order, holding that Major General Bhardwaj was not the competent authority to confirm the sentence under Army Orders 1968, Para 471, and that the subsequent revised sentence was also invalid.
Issues: 1. Whether Major General Bhardwaj was the competent authority to confirm the sentence under Army Orders 1968, Para 471? 2. Whether the revised sentence passed by the General Court Martial was valid?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that Major General Bhardwaj, as General Officer Commanding 19 Infantry Division, was not the competent authority to confirm the sentence under Army Orders 1968, Para 471, which required confirmation by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C). 2. The court held that the revised sentence passed by the General Court Martial was invalid as it was passed pursuant to an order passed by an officer not competent to do so.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal, upholding the High Court's decision to quash the dismissal order.
( 1 ) THE present Letters Patent Appeal by the Union of India is directed against the Judgement dated 2-11-87of the Learned Single Judge, quashing the order of dismisssal from service of Major K. K. Taneja, the respondent. herein, by the General Court Martial and confirmed by the Competent authority under the Army Act.
( 2 ) ALONG with this appeal the appellants filed an application ( CM 158188) u/s 5 of the Limitation Act, for condonation of delay of 19 days in filing the appeal. The appellants also moved another application (CM 157/88) under Order XXXXI Rule 27 read with Section 151 Civil Procedure Code for permission to place on record the relevant Gazette notification/warrant by way of additional evidence.
( 3 ) BEFORE dealing with this appeal and the application s, it is relevant to keep in mind a few salient features of the respondents case as disclosed in his petition (CWP 1253178 ). The respondent herein was appointed as a regular commissioned officer in the Indian Army in December, 1965. Thereafter in the year 1967 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and in April 1969 to the rank of actinig Captain. In the year 1974, the respondent was working as acting Major. While working in that capacity he was charged for an offence u/s 69 of the Army Act 1950 (herinafter referred to as the Act) on the allegation that on 7th May, 1976. at about 2300 his he used ciriminal force on Mrs. Yash Pal Kaur. with the intention to ontrage her modesty in a militry special train, which was moving from Gwalior to Delhi. After completing the formalities of investigattion. a charge sheet was framed against the respondent and a General Court Martial was convened to enquire into that charge. The respondent pleaded not guilty to the charge. The General Court martial on evidence found the respondent guilty of the charge and announced the sentence subject to confirmation as follows (a) to forefeit 5 yeers of service for the purpose of promotion and (b) to be severely reprimanded.
( 4 ) THIS order of sentence was sent to Maior General Bhadrwaj, General-Officer-Commanding 19 Infantory Division for confirmation. The said officer by his order dated 17-11-76 directed the General Court Martial to reassemble again for the purpose of reconsidering the Sentence awarded by it it the light of the observations made in the said order. In complince of this direction, the Genernl Court Martial ressembled on 18th November,. . 1976 and revised the sentence as under " (a) the court having attentively considered the observation of the confirming authority and the whole of the proceedings do now revoke the sentence and now sentencing the accused IC-16741f, Ex-Capt. Taneja Kuldip Kumar. 21, Rajput atached 2nd Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Rifles to be dismissed
( 5 ) THIS order of. sentence was again, sent to the Competent Authority for confirmation. The Chief of Army Staff confirmed the sentence vide Order dated 28-1-77. The respondent s petition under Section 164 of the Act was considered and rejected by the Central Government on 27th April; 1977.
( 6 ) THE,respondent herein challenged the Court Martial proceedings on various grounds in his petition (CWP 1253/78) but during the course of the hearing of his petition, great emphasis was laid on the ground that after the sentence was-passed by the Court Martial on 8-3-76, forefeitin g 5 years service of the respondent herein for the purpose of promotion. and a severe reprimand, the order of sentence was sent for confirmation to Major General Bhardwaj who was not the competent authorityt to either consider the revision petition or confirm the sentence passed by the General Court Martial. The subsequent revised sentence passed by the General Court Martial on the basis of the observations made by Major General Bhardwaj and its confirmation by the Competent Authority was thus illegal. In support of this submission, reliance was placed on para 471 of the Regulations of the Army Act, 1962, which lays down t
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
