Tribunal condones two-month jail term of Army officer

In its judgement on the appeal filed by Captain Kulwant Singh against the two-year jail term in April, the Tribunal observed that, "No useful purpose will be served by subjecting him to such imprisonment at this belated stage.

"Therefore, purely on humanitarian grounds we condone the two months imprisonment. Accordingly, appeal is permitted to the extent of condonation of two month's rigorous imprisonment."

Singh, a Sena medal awardee, was charged with deceit and dishonest misappropriation of government money while he was posted at Allahabad in September, 1998.

He was tried by the general court martial after Rs 10.5 lakh, part of salary of troops of his unit, was stolen from his custody while performing the duties of an adjutant of 312 Field Regiment in Allahabad.

According to Singh's petition, he was advised to arrange the money within 24 hours to avoid serious consequences after which he sought the help of his family members and was able to do so.

The officer had claimed in his plea that he had withdrawn Rs 26.25 lakh from a bank and had taken the cash to his house where he had lunch. Later he found that Rs 10.5 lakh of the Rs 26.25 lakh was missing, the fact which he reported to his officers.

Two days after the incident, his brother lodged an FIR alleging theft in the Captain's house.

In July 2001, the army named him in a charge sheet accusing him of "dishonestly misappropriating property belonging to the government and knowingly making a false statement".

Singh was tried by a general court martial, which in 2002 sentenced him to two-year rigorous imprisonment and cashiering.

The officer, however, approached the Allahabad High Court which granted him bail.

Keeping in view the fact that Singh was granted bail from May 2002 to November 2003, and was not taken into custody thereafter to serve the remaining two months of his sentence, the Tribunal said, "We feel no useful purpose will be served by subjecting him to such imprisonment at this belated stage."