In Brief
A senior Air Force officer was prosecuted by court martial for alleged misappropriation of diesel and petrol. The Armed Forces Tribunal had set aside the conviction, but the Union of India appealed. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It held that the Air Force Act is a special law whose procedure applies instead of the Criminal Procedure Code; reporting theft to civil police is discretionary, not mandatory. The court martial was validly convened, and the officer's right to cross-examine witnesses was not violated. However, on the evidence, charges of criminal breach of trust could not be sustained—the evidence primarily implicated a co-accused, not the respondent. The respondent was reinstated to continuous service with 50% arrears of salary.
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