Armed forces tribunal sets aside soldier’s dismissal

CHENNAI: The regional bench of the armed forces tribunal (AFT) here has quashed the dismissal of a soldier, who had been discharged from service on the ground of desertion. The bench, setting aside the dismissal order, however, asked the soldier, G J Rama Subba Reddy, to report to his unit and face court martial.
Reddy, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, joined the Indian Army as a soldier on February 25, 2002.He went on leave from April 7 to May 8, 2008. However, as his father-in-law suffered a heart attack, Reddy could not report to his unit after the leave expired on May 8, 2008. Instead, he requested an extension of leave till June 9, 2008. When he returned to his unit on June 9, he was not allowed to enter the premises, and his identity card was taken away from him. Reddy was subsequently listed as a ‘deserter’ for his failure to report for duty on May 9, 2008.
Even as Reddy approached the high court of Andhra Pradesh challenging the order of discharge on the ground of desertion, he was dismissed from service in 2011.
Setting aside the dismissal order, the bench of Justice A C Arumugaperumal Adityan, member-judicial and Lt Gen (retd) H S Panag observed that passing an order of dismissal, while a case was still pending, that too without taking any steps to secure him even after knowing that he was alive, was illegal and against the principles of natural justice. The dismissal order, hence, was liable to be set aside, the bench ordered.
It, however, directed Reddy to appear before the senior record officer of the Maratha Light Infantry at Belgaum so as to enable the authorities to take him to the unit and to proceed against him under Section 39 (b) of the Army Act, 1950, before court martial as per the rules.