In Brief
A Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army maintained unauthorised contact with a foreign national from Brazil for over two years, facilitated her visits to India, stayed with her in an Army guest house using false information, and exposed official documents to her in violation of security instructions. The competent authority awarded him 'Severe Displeasure (Recordable)'. The Armed Forces Tribunal quashed this, directing the authority to impose a lighter form of censure. The Supreme Court reversed the Tribunal, holding that its interference was erroneous. The Court upheld that disciplinary punishment should only be reviewed in exceptional cases where it shocks the conscience; the Tribunal impermissibly substituted its judgment for the authority's and wrongly minimised the seriousness of admitted security breaches. The award of 'Severe Displeasure (Recordable)' was commensurate and stood.
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