Summary Court Martial only in grave cases: AFT

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, October 28

While setting aside a Summary Court Martial (SCM), the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has ruled that a SCM could be carried out only when there is grave and compelling cause of immediate action and cannot be treated as a routine recourse.

Sets aside scm of ex-sepoy from hoshiarpur

The Armed Forces Tribunal sets aside the SCM of ex-sepoy Narinder Singh, a resident of Hoshiarpur, Punjab, who deserted the Army and reported after an absence of two years and five months in 2011

In the present case, ex-sepoy Narinder Singh, a resident of Hoshiarpur (Punjab), deserted the Army and reported after an absence of two years and five months at Artillery Centre, Nasik Road Camp, in 2011. He was chargesheeted under Army Act Section 38 (1) for deserting the service while serving with the 34 Rashtriya Rifles battalion and tried by an SCM. Following the SCM, he was dismissed from service on October 30, 2012.

His counsel Rajesh Sehgal submitted before the AFT that SCM proceedings were not in accordance with the law as these were started on October 30, 2012, one year and three months from when he reported back to the Army. The Army authorities didn’t dispute the fact.

The Bench comprising Justice Shekher Dhawan and Air Marshal Manavendra Singh (retd) pointed out that the apex court in Vishav Priya Singh’s case in 2016 had quoted the recommendation of a committee of experts appointed by the Defence Minister that SCM should be “used sparingly and exceptionally and preferably only in operational areas where resort to a regular trial is not practicable”. The committee of experts had also opined that “SCM may not be treated as a routine recourse when other effective tools of enforcing discipline are available”.

The AFT Bench commented that in a similar matter, the Delhi High Court had observed that an SCM could legitimately be convened “where there is grave and compelling cause for taking immediate action which would be defeated if a reference to a District Court Martial (DCM) or Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) is made”. The AFT ruled, “In other words, holding of an SCM is the exception.” While setting aside the SCM of sepoy Narinder Singh, the AFT left it to the Union of India to pass an appropriate order in his case in accordance with the Army Act and rules within four months.