MAJOR AMARJIT SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for a writ of certiorari quashing the order of the Court Martial dated 21st March, 1990. He has also challenged the order of confirmation passed by the General Officer, Commanding in Chief, Southern Command, Pune, dated 14th July, 1990 and the order of the Chief of Army Staff, New Delhi dated 9-1-1991 whereby the petition against the confirmation order under section 164(2) of the Army Act, 1950 was dismissed.

(2.) On 3rd November, 1988, the petitioner was appearing in a written examination known as "Technical Staff Course-16 Examination." On that day the petitioner was appearing in the Mathematics paper. One Major Bhowmik along with Major Sharma and Major Bhakshi were acting as Invigilators in the examination. The petitioner had in his possession a calculator which contained some written mathematical formulae on the reverse side. The petitioner was allegedly making use of the mathematical formulae for solving the question paper. The petitioner was thereafter not allowed to continue with the paper. The question paper, answer book and the calculator were seized by the Invigilating authorities. In due course the petitioner was served with a charge-sheet on 28-12-89. He was charged under section 63 of the Army Act. The charge was as under :711S21.htm

(3.) We have gone through the whole record with the help of the Counsel for the parties. It transpires that the examination is conducted in accordance with SAO 2/S/85. These are instructions issued by the General Staff Branch. A perusal of these instructions would show that all supervising Boards and Candidates appearing in an examination have to study these instructions carefully before the conduct of an examination. Clause 3 states "all officers appearing in an examination will read these instructions thoroughly before applying for the same". Clause 4 provides that "cases of officers who do not apply for or take a promotion examination they are due to take, will be investigated by the Formations and if necessary administrative/disciplinary action taken against them." Appendix-A to these instructions further states that " The Formation Headquarters detailing the Board will ensure that contents of this SAO are read and understood by all members as soon as they are detailed. It will be ensured that a copy of this SAO is kept in the Examination Centre for ready reference at all times". Para 11 deals with unfair means and states that an officer using unfair means will not be allowed to continue with the examination including the remaining papers. Such cases will be viewed seriously and disciplinary action taken against them by the conducting formation. Para 16 provides as under :