Gaps in probe: Tribunal sets aside ex-soldier’s dismissal, four-year RI

The Armed Forces Tribunal has set aside the sentence awarded by a general court martial (GCM) to a junior commissioned officer (JCO) for accepting bribe from an ex-soldier, who wanted to bid for running a canteen at an army establishment. The GCM had dismissed the JCO from service and sentenced him to four years of rigorous imprisonment.

Ruling that the prosecution had left too many gaps that impeded its case from being proven to the hilt, the Tribunal’s Bench, comprising Justice Shailendra Shukla and Vice Admiral AR Karve, directed that the petitioner be released from jail forthwith. The Bench further stated that he would be entitled to all consequential benefits from his dismissal being set aside.

The JCO, then posted as an upper division clerk with the Military Engineer Service at Pune, was accused of receiving Rs 50,000 from the ex-soldier to facilitate the allotment of a contract for running a canteen at his establishment. Besides, he had enriched himself illicitly by securing pecuniary resources of Rs 9.20 lakh, disproportionate to his known sources of income. The ex-soldier allegedly recorded a conversation with the JCO, where he demanded Rs 2.5 lakh bribe.

The Tribunal observed that there was no independent eye-witness, the trap money was not treated with phenolphthalein powder as is the norm, and the seizure memo of articles other than Rs 50,000 was not prepared on the spot. The complainant didn't produce his phone during the trial