IAF member can't depart from service at will during term of engagement: SC

A person enrolled as a member of the Indian Air Force does not have an "unqualified right" to depart from service at will during the term of engagement, the Supreme Court said Wednesday.

Hearing a plea filed by an airman, the court said a balance has been sought to be drawn between interests of service with situations involving requests by persons enrolled in the IAF to take civilian employment.

But interests of service are of "paramount importance", it observed.

The airman has challenged two orders of the Armed Forces Tribunal, passed in 2012, by which his petition seeking direction for grant of a no-objection certification and for discharge from the IAF to join a civil post in a bank was dismissed.

"A person who has been enrolled as a member of the Air Force does not have an unqualified right to depart from service at his or her will during the term of engagement. Such a construction, as urged on behalf of the appellant, will seriously impinge upon manning levels and operational preparedness of the armed forces," a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta said in its verdict.

"With the rapid advancement of technology, particularly in its application to military operations, there has been a reconfiguration of the human and technological requirements of a fighting force," the bench said.

However, as nearly eight years have elapsed since the man left service, the bench said, no purpose will be served in directing his reinduction into the IAF.

The apex court said, "....we are of the view that the ends of justice would be met by directing that a final NOC and discharge be issued to the appellant no later than within a period of three months of the receipt of a copy of this order. At the same time, we are of the view that this should not be an unconditional direction."