A General Court-Martial (GCM) of the Army has revised the initial punishment it awarded to a Brigadier, on charges of committing adultery with the wife of a Colonel, and has increased it from loss of seniority to cashiering from service and three years of rigorous imprisonment.Three years for adultery?
The GCM had earlier awarded the Brigadier ten years loss of seniority and a ‘severe reprimand’ in its sentence delivered in October this year. The punishment had been awarded after the accused pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
However, the Army Headquarters turned down the punishment awarded and sent the court martial’s verdict back for reconsideration. The revised verdict was announced on Thursday in a sitting of the court martial in Binaguri in West Bengal.
In the U.S., there'd be a substantial argument about unlawful command influence:
[T]he Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, has been very tough on offences involving moral turpitude and has given instructions that these matters should be dealt severely.Watch for this case to be appealed to the Armed Forces Tribunal. The Indian military justice would benefit from an overhaul.
Interestingly, the provision for review of court martial findings are existing under the Army Act, 1950 and the Air Force Act, 1950. The Navy Act of 1957 does not contain provisions for review of findings and sentence of a court martial. However, under the Navy Act the officer assembling a court martial has the power to appoint presiding officer of a court martial by name. The need for a common code for the three services have been ignored by the government.
ReplyDeleteU C Jha