'He Isn't Suited To Military Lifestyle; Father's Desires Pushed Him Into This', Delhi HC Advises Lt. Col To Let His Son Choose His Life Path [Read Order]

The Bench Justices Asha Menon and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw made these observations while hearing the plea of a young aspirant to the Indian Army.

The facts of the Case

After clearing the Combined Defence Services (CDS) Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the interview conducted by the Service Selection Board (SSB), including medical fitness, the petitioner joined the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on 8th July, 2017 for his Pre-Commissioning Training to join the Indian Army as a Commissioned Officer.

Unfortunately, the petitioner was subjected to ragging and was admitted to the hospital from 17th July, 2017 to 26th July, 2017. On 27th July, 2017, he also filed a complaint against the ragging and the inhuman treatment that he had been subjected to by his seniors.

He did complete his First Term successfully and was promoted to the Second Term along with his batch-mates in the 143rd Regular Course IMA.

However, a week before the Second Term came to an end in May 2018, the petitioner was served with a Notice to Show Cause as to why he should not be 'Relegated' for having accumulated 60 Restrictions in two terms from 8th July, 2017 to 30th May, 2018.

Despite his reply, the petitioner was 'Relegated' and completed his Second Term after repeating it, with the 144th Regular Course IMA.

However, on 7th March, 2019, the petitioner was served with another Show-Cause Notice asking him to explain as to why he should not be 'Relegated' to a batch junior for having accumulated 65 Restrictions in two consecutive terms.

Thereafter, as per his claims, in an arbitrary manner, the Commandant IMA relegated the petitioner from the 144th Regular Course IMA to the 145th Regular Course IMA.

With regard to the final Physical Training tests, the petitioner submitted that these tests were slated for 7th November, 2019 in the morning during PT time.

However, the previous night, on the directions issued by the Coy Cdr Zojila Coy (who used to harass him, as per the claims of the Petitioner), the petitioner was made to stand outside the Battalion Duty Officer's room in Full Pack 08 with 40 Kgs of sand and bricks filled into it from 2300 hours to 0200 hours.

As a result, the petitioner was completely exhausted and he could not perform to the best of his physical capacity. That was the reason why he failed in three of the PT tests, namely, 'Toe-Touch', 'Rope' and 'Vault' and he sought another chance to clear these tests.

On 9th November, 2019, the petitioner states, he was called by his Battalion Commander and awarded several restrictions in one go, which were awarded back dates.

Subsequently, the petitioner was 'Relegated' and was ordered to be withdrawn from the IMA on 23rd November, 2019.

In the backdrop of these facts the petitioner sought the quashing of the withdrawal letter dated 16th January, 2020 and further directions to the respondents to permit the petitioner to clear the remaining PT tests and on qualifying the same to be restored to the original seniority of the 145th Regular Course IMA.

The stand of the Respondents

The respondents disputed these allegations and in turn, claimed that the Officers at the IMA had given every kind of support to the petitioner to improve his attitude and performance and yet the petitioner could not fit into the discipline required for a life in the Indian Army and was also found physically unfit, particularly because of being over-weight and that action has been taken strictly as per the Rules and upon the third Relegation, withdrawal was the only course left with the IMA.

Court's Analysis

After perusing the record, the Court was of the view that the IMA had acted strictly in accordance with the Rules of HQ ARTRAC, in respect of the punishments, the 'Relegations' as well as the 'withdrawal'.

Further, the Court stated that the explanation offered by the petitioner for failure in the 3 Physical Tests may appear plausible but for the fact that the records reveal that the fundamental cause of failure was the obesity of the petitioner.

In this context, the Court said,

"From November, 2018, the petitioner has not been able to clear the 'toe-touch' and other Physical Tests despite opportunities during the mandatory and compensatory attempts and even in the Commandant's Review attempt. This would also show that the petitioner has been granted fair opportunity to clear his Physical Tests. Despite counselling in this regard, the petitioner seems to have not taken adequate measures to reduce his weight. By no means were his instructors acting with bias or vindictiveness if they expected a cadet to withstand rigorous physical challenges." (emphasis supplied)

The father of the petitioner, Lt.Col. P S Jakhar made a fervent plea to consider the case of his son leniently, as the commissioning of his son as an Officer of the Indian Army meant a lot to him as it would be the 4^th generation from his family to join the Indian Army.

To this, the Court said.

"While it may be possible for us to sympathize with the Lt.Col., but it is not a father's ambition that defines the standards for selection as a Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army." (emphasis supplied)

The Court also noted that the petitioner used to absent himself from training and special and critical events by malingering or reporting sick.

"Throughout his Second Term he absented himself from not only Physical Training but also from the performance of his punishments. He was punished for misbehaviour too. Repeatedly he was found disregarding the chain of command and punishments did not seem to bring about the desired result", noted the Court.

Further, the Court said that,

"It is indeed farfetched to allege, as the petitioner has, that the punishments given to him between 9th November, 2019 and 11th November, 2019 totalling 26, were illegal and intended to make up for a shortfall in restrictions to throw him out of the IMA. In fact, they were founded on the conclusions of the Honour Code Committee which found him guilty of making false statements to cover up an offence and levelling false allegations against the Coy Cdr and for disobeying orders to undergo punishments."

Lastly, the Court remarked,

There was no merit in the petition which was accordingly dismissed.