SC asks Army Chief to explain summary court martial trials
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today frowned
upon the practice of adopting summary court martial
proceedings to sack lower rank army personnel and directed
the Chief of the Army Staff Gen Deepak Kapoor to explain if
there are any guidelines to prevent its abuse.
A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and H L Dattu at
one stage threatened to summon the Army chief to the court as
the union government failed to explain adequately whether
proper guidelines are in place to prevent abuse of the
colonial era method of dealing with erring army personnel.
However, the court later relented and directed the
Army Chief to file an affidavit within three weeks.
Summary court martial proceedings were resorted in
1857 by the then East India Company to quell the Sepoy Mutiny
when army personnel were sacked or sentenced to rigorous
imprisonment those sepoys who refused to toe their line.
In this procedure, the Commandant or the unit officer
not only acts as a prosecutor and investigator but also is the
judge empowered to impose imprisonment upto six months and
even terminate the services. However, the procedure is adopted
only in the case of the lower rung personnel like sepoys,
havildars, naiks and lance naiks.
The Delhi High Court had in a January, 2008, judgement
directed the union government that the summary trial
proceedings should be conducted only in exceptional
circumstances and quashed the dismissal orders passed against
certain sepoys.
Aggrieved, the Centre filed the SLP in the apex
court.
Bureau Report