These 19 writ petitions are disposed of by a common judgment as the question of law and facts in all the cases are similar.

2. In summary court martial, the accused in this batch of 19 petitions were tried for the offence or offences under the Army Act alleged to have committed by the accused. On the trial, the summary court-martial convicted the accused and inflicted punishment on them - in some cases dismissal simipliciter, in some cases reduction in rank and dismissal and in some cases imprisonment, reduction in rank and dismissal. The accused were convicted and punishment were inflicted on them on the ground that accused pleaded "guilty" to the charge.

3. Mr. B.K. Das, learned counsel for the petitioners, has advanced the following submissions. Two sets of the rules have been made applicable to a rifleman. They are the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965,for short 'the Disciplinary Rules' and the Army Act, 1950. The Army Act is more drastic and prejudicial to the interest of a rifleman. If it is open to the authority to initiate a proceeding against an erring rifleman either under the Disciplinary Rules or under the Army Act