R S BUDHWAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this petition for a writ of certiorari, the petitioner has assailed the legality of an order dated 03.03.1994 forfeituring his pensionary benefits in the backdrop of the following facts:

(2.) The petitioner was commissioned in the Indian Army in June 1974. He was tried by a General Court Martial alongwith two other Army personnel for committing murder of Colonel S.S. Sahota and Major Jaspal Singh of their unit. He was convicted by the Court Martial for offences punishable under Section 302/109/34 of the IPC and sentenced to be cashiered and to suffer imprisonment for life. The conviction and sentence was confirmed by the General Officer Commander in Chief, Eastern Command on 08th September 1990.

(3.) Some time after the promulgation of the sentence and the pensionary benefits due to the petitioner were forfeited after affording to the petitioner an opportunity to show cause against the same. Nine years after the issue of the forfeiture order, the petitioner filed the present petition in which a Division Bench of this court had by an order dated 19th September 2003 issued notice to the respondents only in so far as the forfeiture related to the gratuity amount payable to the petitioner. This implied that in so far as the forfeiture of the pensionary benefits were concerned, the court did not see any reason to interfere with the forfeiture order. The only aspect that the court proposed to examine was whether forfeiture of 'pensionary benefits' would include the amount of gratuity payable to the petitioner.