AFT Upholds Ex-Colonel’s Conviction for Abetting Transport of 3,000 Kg Ganja in Assam Rifles Case

More than 25 years after the events in question, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has upheld the conviction and sentence of a former Colonel who was court-martialled for abetting the transport of 3,000 kg of ganja, along with charges of financial irregularities and professional misconduct while in command of an Assam Rifles battalion.

The Chandigarh Bench of the Tribunal, comprising Justice Sudhir Mittal and Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, passed its order on September 17 and held that there was no legal infirmity in either the findings or the punishment awarded by the General Court Martial. It also ruled that the challenge to the proceedings had been brought hopelessly beyond the period permitted under law.

The officer had joined the Army in the ranks in January 1969 and was commissioned in December 1977. He rose to the rank of Colonel in June 1997 and was later appointed Commanding Officer of 21 Assam Rifles in Nagaland, the appointment that placed him at the centre of the case.

The proceedings stemmed from allegations dating back to 1999, when he was commanding the unit. According to the record before the Tribunal, reports from that period linked the matter to the interception of a civilian truck carrying a large quantity of marijuana and to allegations that an escort from the unit convoy had been provided for the vehicle. Those allegations later became the basis of the first two charges before the court-martial.

Four charges were framed against him in January 2000. The first, under Section 69 of the Army Act, accused him of abetting the transport of 3,000 kg of ganja. The second, under Section 63, alleged that he had improperly instructed a rifleman from his unit to escort a civilian truck along with the unit convoy.

The third charge, under Section 52(f), related to the drawing of pay for six casual porters amounting to Rs 59,676, despite the allegation that he knew the porters had not actually been employed. A fourth charge under Section 52(b) accused him of misappropriating Rs 20,472 contributed by personnel of the unit.

After a Court of Inquiry and the recording of Summary of Evidence, a General Court Martial was convened in January 2000. In March that year, the court sentenced the officer to two years of rigorous imprisonment and ordered that he be cashiered from service.

The proceedings were confirmed in September 2000. At that stage, part of the imprisonment was remitted and the ex-Colonel was exonerated of the charge concerning the alleged misappropriation of Rs 20,472. He later filed a mercy petition in April 2003, but it was rejected in March 2004.

Before the Tribunal, the former officer pleaded not guilty and argued that he had been framed because of professional jealousy. He also contended that mandatory procedures had not been followed, that the General Court Martial had returned perverse findings, and that he had been medically unfit to face trial.

The Bench rejected those submissions after examining the evidence and other material on record. It found no basis to interfere with the conclusions reached by the General Court Martial.

The Tribunal also focused on the delay in approaching it. It noted that the Chandigarh Bench became functional in 2009 and that the application was filed in 2010. Under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, an order passed before November 2006 — three years before the Bench became functional — could not be entertained unless the applicant sought condonation of delay. No such application had been filed in this case, the Bench observed, and the challenge was therefore barred by limitation.

By rejecting the appeal on both limitation and merits, the Tribunal brought to an end a long-pending legal challenge to the 2000 court-martial. The order leaves intact the disciplinary outcome imposed more than two decades ago in connection with the 1999 episode involving 21 Assam Rifles.