'Unblemished Patriotic Soldier': Punjab & Haryana HC Grants Relief To Muslim IAF Officer Dismissed From Service For Second Marriage

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has set aside the dismissal order of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Officer who performed second marriage under Muslim Personal law, observing that he has served unblemished service as a patriotic soldier and his dismissal would amount to violation of right to livelihood.

The IAF Officer was dismissed from the service because he performed second marriage without the consent of the competent authorities. However the Court noted that the second marriage is valid under Muslim Law and in the present case it was performed with the consent of the first wife.

The division bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma said, "...the present petitioner, being the solitary bread earner for his entire family, wherebys, the right of livelihood of the petitioner, and, of the dependents upon him thus would become direly prejudiced."

The Court said that the deprivation of any source of livelihood to the petitioner and to his family members, but would be violative of Article 21 of the Constitution. The bench also considered that the officer had rendered his service in the Indian Air Force, and have an unblemished record, as a patriotic soldier.

These observations were made while hearing the plea of a Muslim IAF Officer. The IAF Officer had married another Muslim woman during his first marriage in 2012. 

The second marriage was contracted without  seeking any permission from the competent authority as per the Regulations for the Air Force. According to the petitioner, he had disclosed the fact of contracting second marriage, which resulted in the conducting of Court of Inquiry, against him.

Accordingly a show cause notice was issued, and in response thereof, the petitioner submitted his reply dated 23 June 2014, wherein, he did not dispute the fact of his contracting a plural marriage rather without seeking permission but he submitted that his religion permits upto four valid marriages, provided he could maintain all the spouses equally and give them equal rights. 

The officer also pleaded ignorance of the Regulations for the Air Force. However, he was dismissed from the service after conducting enquiry.

After hearing the submissions, the Court opined that the plea was filed in 2021 but for advancing justice the the bar of limitation may not become a stumbling block for proceeding to decide the plea on merits.

It also noted that the dismissal order of the officer is "harsh, disproportionate to the purportedly committed misdemeanor."

"Moreover, this Court is also required to fathoming from the records whether the impugned order suffers from some non-application of mind, vis-a-vis the relevant extenuating attendant circumstances to the commission of the purported misdemeanor by the present petitioner," added the Court.

The division bench also noted that the second marriage is valid under Muslim Law and the first wife did not complain about the second marriage of her husband which implies that she gave consent and ready to live the second wife.

Speaking for bench Justice Thakur highlighted that as per the regulations the commanding officer was required to report the case along with the recommendation whether action should be taken or not along with the reasoning. However, the same was not followed in the present case.

"However, the said empowerment appears to become relegated to the backburner. Contrarily, an extremely harsh punishment of dismissal from service became awarded to the present petitioner," opined the Court.

In the light of the above, the Court allowed the plea and set aside the dismissal order.

XXX v. UOI & Ors

Mr.R.S.Panghal,Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Bharat Bhushan Sharma, Senior Panel Counsel for the respondent – UOI.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (PH) 288

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