In Brief
Col. Anil Kumar Gupta, an army officer, was charged with conduct unbecoming his position under Section 45 of the Army Act for an alleged affair with a colleague's wife. After a court of inquiry, charges were filed on 19 November 2018 and a court-martial was ordered on 22 November 2018. Gupta challenged this before the Armed Forces Tribunal, raising a limitation defence under Section 122 of the Army Act (three-year limit). The Supreme Court held that the three-year period commenced from 13 August 2015—when the aggrieved officer's complaint letter demonstrated clear knowledge of the alleged offence—not from later formal conclusions. Since the court-martial order came in November 2018, it exceeded three years and was barred by limitation. The Court quashed the court-martial proceedings but allowed the underlying disciplinary proceedings to continue.
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