Due to the dichotomy of the rules governing Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country, an Army Colonel faces court martial for committing adultery.
Adultery is no more a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code, but it remains so in Jammu and Kashmir which is governed by the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
With this in mind, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay a court martial proceeding against Colonel Rajnish Bhandari who stands accused of adultery during his posting at Srinagar.
Colonel Bhandari approached the top court in the hope that since adultery was decriminalized in September 2018, it could quash the trial against him.
A retired Army officer named Bhandari in a complaint which accused his wife of developing affection for Bhandari. Under the Military Manual, "stealing the affection of a brother officer's wife" is an offence, though no FIR has been filed against the Colonel.
The complainant officer retired in 2007, but the Army framed charges under Section 497 of RPC and Section 63 and 69 of the Army Act, 1951 which provides for a maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment.
As Court Martial proceedings began, Col Bhandari approached the Armed Forces Tribunal. He maintained that as Section 497 had ceased to be an offence under IPC, the same yardstick should be adopted for RPC too.
In addition, the complaint was related to his posting in Srinagar under the Northern Command, but Court Martial proceedings commenced after he was moved to Southern Command.
Bhandari's appeal was heard by a bench of Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran on Friday. Appearing for the Army, senior advocate R Balasubramanium pointed out that RPC and IPC stand on different footings. Under RPC, even women can be charged with adultery, while IPC considers only men as adulterers.
Bhandari said he was being made a "scapegoat" in a matrimonial dispute. Since the complaint, the retired Army officer and his wife had divorced, while Bhandari faced tremendous humiliation tarnishing his decorated career.
The bench directed the Court Martial proceeding could go on, but directed the Army to not pass a final order yet.
LEGAL TANGLE
- Colonel Rajnish Bhandari was accused of adultery by another Army officer while he was posted in Srinagar
- Under the Ranbir Penal Code that governs the restive state, adultery is a criminal offence
- Indian Penal Code decrimialized adultery in 2018. The Colonel moved SC requesting quashing of trial against him
