The Young Aspirant of the Indian Army has filled the petition in the Delhi High Court with the prayer:-
“(i) Writ order in the Nature of Certiorari to quash and set aside the withdrawal letter dated 16.01.2020 and/or
(ii) Writ order in the nature of Mandamus directing the Respondents to take back the Petitioner in the training at the IMA for clearing of the remaining three PT tests and W.P. (C) 5622/2020 Page 2 of 10 that on qualifying the same, be restored to the original seniority of the 145 Regular Course at par with his Course mates with all the Consequential Reliefs .....”
The facts of the case are:-
- The young aspirant after clearing the Combined Defense Services (CDS) Exam organized by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the interview taken by the Service Selection Board (SSB), comprising of medical fitness, on 08 July 2017 joined the Indian Military Academy (IMA) for pre-commissioning training to become the Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army.
- The petitioner was subject to ragging and was submitted to the hospital from 17 July 2017 to 26 July 2017. On 27 July 2017, he filed the complaint against his senior who was giving him ill-treatment and also ragged him. He was promoted to the second term along with all the batch mates in the 143rd regular course IMA.
- At the end of May 2018, a week before the second term was going to end, the notice was served to the petition to justify as to why “he should not be ‘relegated’ for all the 60 restrictions in the past two terms.
- Despite his reply, he was demoted and repeated the second batch with 144th Regular Course IMA.
- On 7th March 2019, the petitioner was served with the second notice to provide the reason as to why he should not be demoted for all the 65 restrictions for the past two terms. Even after his reply, he was demoted to 145th Regular Course IMA.
- The petitioner submitted that all the illegal punishments and the demotions have sealed the future and these punishments were imposed with the intent that the petitioner may withdraw from the IMA.
The respondents stated in turn of the above allegations-
- The IMA had given all the required support to the petitioner to change his attitude and to improve his performance. But the petitioner was unable to cop-up with the lifestyle and the discipline required for the life of the Indian Army.
- The petitioner was also physically unfit due to his obesity and the strict actions were taken according to the rules. But after the third demotion, the withdrawal was only the option left with the IMA.
The court made the following observation:-
- IMA has acted in accordance with the rules and the demotions as well as the withdrawal was according to the rules of HQ ARTRAC.
- The record reveals the fundamental reason for the failure of the 3rd physical test was the obesity of the petitioner. The petitioner was granted the fair opportunity, but the petitioner didn't take adequate measures to reduce his weight.
- By no means it can be believed that the instructors were acting with biases, as they expect that cadets to withstand the rigorous physical challenges.
- The petitioner's father wanted that the court considers the sons' case leniently, as he wanted that the 4th generation of his family should also be the part of the Indian Army. In reply to this court stated- “While it may be possible for us to sympathize with the Lt.Col., but it is not a father's ambition that defines the standards for selection as a Commissioned Officer in the Indian army”
- the court also stated that the conclusion was made by the Honour Code Committee which found him guilty of making false statements to cover up his offence and the false allegation against Coy Cdr and for disobeying orders to undergo punishments.
Lastly, the court stated that:-
“The petitioner and his father would do well to accept the decision of the IMA gracefully and utilize all the learning in the 2 years spent by the petitioner at the IMA to work towards the bright future in any other chosen field.”
The petition was then dismissed because there was no merit in the petition.
The constitutional bench of Justices Asha Menon and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, advised the father of the petitioner that he should not force his desires and aspirations on his son and give him the freedom to choose his life path, which is not the Indian Army.