The Supreme Court has reestablished the discipline of the punishment of cashiering to Ex. Lt. Col. S. S. Bedi who was a Medical Specialist in the Indian Army Medical Corps found as liable of the charge of using criminal power against two ladies patients.
The Supreme Court held, “We restore the punishment of penalty by considering the indefensible conduct of the Appellant misusing a place of trust being a Doctor which isn’t condonable. Be that as it may, we direct the Respondents to consider the whole record of service of the Appellant and his propelled age while taking a decision to start procedures under the Army Pension Regulations.”
A three-judge Bench of Justice Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and Ravindra Gupta was not convinced with the reasons given by the Tribunal for changing over the sentence from cashiering to imposition of fine of Rs.50,000 and directed revival of the punishment.
An appeal was documented by Ex. Lt. Col. S. S. Bedi tested the judgment of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi affirming request of his conviction by the General Court Martial.
The Tribunal had anyway changed over the sentence of cashiering from administration into a fine of Rs.50,000/ – The Union of India had documented an appeal oppressed by the modification of sentence from cashiering from administration to inconvenience of fine.
The Appellant Mr Bedi was commissioned in the Indian Army Medical Corps in 1966 and was posted at Base Hospital Lucknow as a Medical Specialist in 1984.
An objection was made by two ladies against him in 1986 that he behaved badly with them during test by touching their genitals. He was charged for carrying out a civil offense and using criminal power on two ladies with purpose to shock their modesty, as opposed to Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). The Appellant was held liable by the General Court Martial and was sentenced to be cashiered from service on fourteenth Jan 1987.
The conviction and sentence of the General Court Martial were tested by the Petitioner before the Delhi High Court in the year 2010 and was moved by the Delhi High Court to the Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal, New Delhi. The Tribunal maintained the conviction of the Appellant however changed over the punishment of cashiering to a fine of Rs.50,000/ – .
The Counsel for the appealing party Mr. Sridhar Potaraju, had submitted before the Supreme Court that the conviction of the Appellant is impractical as the proof on record was not appropriately valued by both the General Court Martial and the Tribunal.
Additional Solicitor General showing up for the Respondent reacted by contending that there was .plentiful proof on record highlighting the guilt of the Appellant which has been appropriately valued by the General Court Martial and the Tribunal.
He informed the Court that the Respondents are just worried about the conversion of the punishment of cashiering to a fine of Rs.50,000, which as indicated by at that point was unjustifiable. The Appellant had misbehaved with two patients and the expert proof additionally shows that there was no need of the Appellant touching the private pieces of the complainant.
The Apex Court concurred with the conclusion of the General Court Martial and the Tribunal that the Appellant is liable of the charge of using criminal power against two ladies patients and denied the dispute that the conviction was unreasonable.
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