Chandigarh, March 19: Armed Forces Tribunal has ruled that interim opinions from a Court of Inquiry are insufficient grounds for penalizing an officer. The decision comes after a Lieutenant Colonel challenged a “Severe Displeasure” recordable award stemming from allegations of a relationship with a woman who claimed to be his second wife.
The tribunal’s Chandigarh Bench observed that the military authorities failed to protect the procedural rights of the officer. Evidence showed that while a brigade-level inquiry found no wrongdoing, a subsequent division-level COI proceeded with interim findings despite the primary accuser’s refusal to testify. The Bench stated that the lack of cross-examination by the complainant made the resulting findings “starkly illegal” and biased.
The AFT declared that the Corps Commander had treated the issuance of a show-cause notice as a mere formality, with the award of punishment being a “foregone conclusion.” This conduct, the tribunal maintained, was a clear violation of fair trial standards. Records indicated that the woman had even claimed the officer was her husband to secure property from an aunt, yet she remained indifferent when asked by the Commanding Officer to provide proof of marriage.
Following the quashing of the 2019 punishment and a 2022 central government order, the tribunal directed the Army to restore all consequential benefits to the officer. The Bench affirmed that the military must adhere to rigorous evidentiary standards even in matters of alleged moral turpitude. “The interim findings and interim opinion are illegal and deserve to be quashed,” the tribunal asserted in its final judgment.
