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According to Bar and Bench, the Supreme Court declared on Friday that discipline is a non-negotiable condition of service and the implicit trademark of the Indian Armed Forces.
The Armed Forces Tribunal Lucknow Regional Bench's order from February 2015 dismissing a mechanical transport driver from the service for exceeding leave limits without a good reason was upheld by a court panel made up of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Rajesh Bindal.
Such flagrant disobedience on the part of the appellant, who was a soldier, could not be tolerated. He crossed the line far too frequently by asking for forgiveness for his protracted leave of absence—108 days this time—which, if granted, would have sent the incorrect message to other members of the service. One must keep in mind that discipline is both an unavoidable requirement of duty and the implicit trademark of the Armed Forces, according to the Court.
However, the court also found that the driver, a former sepoy, who has been charged under Section 39b of the Army Act, appeared to be a habitual offender and that he had remained out of line for far too long by asking for forgiveness of his leave, the report said. The driver's attorney argued in an appeal before the Supreme Court that the punishment was grossly disproportionate to the offense.
The driver simply made a bald assertion in his representations to the Court of Inquiry in 1999; he had not submitted any documents to the record to support his leaves prior to the hearing.
