73. Punishments awardable by courts-martial.—Punishments may be inflicted in respect of
offences committed by persons subject to this Act and convicted by courts-martial according to the scale
following, that is to say,—
(a) death;
(b) transportation for life or for any period not less than seven years, in respect of civil offences;
(c) imprisonment, either rigorous or simple, for any period not exceeding fourteen years;
(d) detention for a term not exceeding two years in the case of airmen;
(e) cashiering, in the case of officers;
(f) dismissal from service;
(g) reduction to the ranks or to a lower rank or classification, in the case of warrant officers and
non-commissioned officers:
Provided that a warrant officer reduced to the ranks shall not be required to serve in the ranks as
an airman;
(h) forfeiture of seniority of rank, in the case of officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned
officers; and forfeiture of all or any part of their service for the purpose of promotion, in the case of
any of them whose promotion depends upon length of service;
1. The Explanation omitted by Act 13 of 1975, s. 2 (w.e.f. 25-1-1975).
28
(i) forfeiture of service for the purpose of increased pay, pension or any other prescribed purpose;
(j) severe reprimand or reprimand, in the case of officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned
officers;
(k) forfeiture of pay and allowances for a period not exceeding three months for an offence
committed on active service;
(l) forfeiture, in the case of a person sentenced to cashiering or dismissal from the service of all
arrears of pay and allowances and other public money due to him at the time of such cashiering or
dismissal;
(m) stoppage of pay and allowances until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence of
which he is convicted is made good.
74. Alternative punishments awardable by court-martial.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, a
court-martial may, on convicting a person subject to this Act of any of the offences specified in
sections 34 to 70 inclusive, award either the particular punishment with which the offence is stated in the
said sections to be punishable, or, in lieu thereof, any one of the punishments lower in the scale set out in
section 73, regard being had to the nature and degree of the offence.
75. Combination of punishments.—A sentence of a court-martial may award in addition to, or
without any one other punishment, the punishment specified in clause (e) or clause (f) of section 73 and
any one or more of the punishments specified in clauses (g) to (m) of that section.
76. Cashiering of officers.—An officer shall be sentenced to be cashiered before he is awarded any
of the punishments specified in clauses (a) to (c) of section 73.
77. Field punishment.—(1) Where any person subject to this Act and under the rank of warrant
officer commits any offence on active service, shall be lawful for a court-martial to award for that offence
any such punishment as is prescribed as a field punishment.
(2) Field punishment shall be of the character of personal restraint or of hard labour but shall not be
of a nature to cause injury to life or limb and shall not include flogging.
78. Position of field punishment in scale of punishments.—Field punishment shall for the purpose
of commutation be deemed to stand next below dismissal in the scale of punishments specified in
section 73.
79. Result of certain punishments in the case of a warrant officer or non-commissioned
officer.—A warrant officer or a non-commissioned officer sentenced by a court-martial to transportation,
imprisonment, detention, field punishment or dismissal from the service shall be deemed to be reduced to
the ranks.
80. Retention in the ranks of a person convicted on active service.—When, on active service, any
enrolled person has been sentenced by a court-martial to dismissal, or to transportation, imprisonment or
detention, whether combined with dismissal or not, the prescribed officer may direct that such person may
be retained to serve in the ranks and such service shall be reckoned as part of his term of transportation,
imprisonment or detention, if any.
81. Punishments otherwise than by court-martial.—Punishments may, also be inflicted in respect
of offences committed by persons, subject to this Act without the intervention of a court-martial and in
the manner stated in sections 82 and 86.
29
82. Punishment of persons other than officers and warrant officers.—Subject to the provisions of
section 84, a commanding officer or such other officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government,
specified by 1
[the Chief of the Air Staff], may, in the prescribed manner, proceed against a person subject
to this Act otherwise than as an officer or warrant officer who is charged with an offence under this Act
and award such person, to the extent prescribed, one or more of the following punishments, that is to
say,—
(a) detention up to twenty-eight days;
(b) confinement to the camp up to fourteen days;
(c) extra guards or duties not exceeding three in number:
(d) deprivation of acting rank;
(e) forfeiture of badge pay;
(f) severe reprimand or reprimand;
(g) fine up to fourteen days' pay in any one month;
(h) penal deductions under clause
(g) of section 92;
(i) admonition;
(j) any prescribed field punishment up to twenty-eight days, in the case of a person on active
service.
83. Requirement of sanction in certain cases.—(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the
punishments mentioned in section 82 shall not be inflicted in respect of an offence under any of the
sections 34, 35 and 36 when committed on active service or under any of the sections 37, 38, 40, 42 (f)
and (g), 43, 47, 52, 60, 62, 63, 64, 66(a), (b) and (c) and 71 except with the previous sanction in writing
of an officer having power to convene a district court-martial.
(2) The said punishments may be awarded without such sanction in the case of any offence other than
an offence under section 34 or section 71, committed by persons who have not been enrolled as
combatants.
84. Limit of punishments under section 82.—(1) An Award of punishment under section 82 shall
not include field punishment in addition to one or more of the punishments specified in
clauses (a) and (b) of that section.
(2) In the case of an award of two or more of the punishments specified in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of
the said section, the punishment specified in clause (b) or clause (c) shall take effect only at the end of the
punishment specified in clause (a).
(3) When two or more of the punishments specified in the said clauses (a) and (b) are awarded to a
person conjointly, or when already undergoing one or more of the said punishments, the whole extent of
the punishments shall not exceed in the aggregate forty-two days.
1. Subs by Act 19 of 1955, s. 2 and the Schedule, for “the Commander-in Chief” (w.e.f. 7-5-1955).
30
(4) The punishments specified in clauses (a), (b), (c), (e), (g) and (j) of section 82 shall not be
awarded to any person who is of the rank of non-commissioned officer or was, at the time of committing
the offence for which he is punished, of such rank.
(5) The punishments specified in clause (f) of the said section shall not be awarded to any person
below the rank of a non-commissioned officer.
85. Punishments in addition to those specified In section 82.—1
[The Chief of the Air Staff] may,
with the consent of the Central Government, specify such other punishments as may be awarded under
section 82 in addition to or without any of the punishments specified in the said section, and the extent to
which such other punishments may be awarded.
86. Punishment of officers and warrant officers.—An officer having power to convene a general
court-martial or such other officer as is, with the consent of the Central Government, specified by 1
[the
Chief of the Air Staff] may, in the prescribed, manner proceed against an officer below the rank of
squadron leader or warrant officer, who is charged with an offence under this Act, and award one or more
of the following punishments, that is to say,—
(a) forfeiture of seniority, or in the case of any of them whose promotion depends upon length of
service, forfeiture of service for the purpose of promotion for a period not exceeding twelve months,
but subject to the right of the accused previous to the award to elect to be tried by a court-martial;
(b) severe reprimand or reprimand;
(c) stoppage of pay and allowance until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence of
which he is convicted is made good but subject to the right of the accused specified in clause (a);
(d) forfeiture of pay and allowances for a period not exceeding three months for an offence under
clause (e) of section 42 in so far as it consists of neglect to obey flying orders or under
section 62 or section 63.
87. Transmission of proceedings.—In every case in which punishment has been awarded under
section 86, certified true copies of the proceedings shall be forwarded, in the prescribed manner, by the
officer awarding the punishment, to a superior air force authority as defined in section 89.
88. Review of proceedings.—If any punishment awarded under section 86 appears to a superior air
force authority as defined in section 89 to be illegal, unjust or excessive, such authority may cancel, vary
or remit the punishment and make such other direction as may be appropriate in the circumstances of the
case.
89. Superior air force authority.—For the purposes of sections 87 and 88, a “superior air force
authority” means—
(a) in the case of punishments awarded by a commanding officer, any officer superior in
command to such commanding officer;
(b) in the case of punishments awarded by any other authority, the Central Government, 1
[the
Chief of the Air Staff] or other officer specified by 1
[the Chief of the Air Staff].
90. Collective fines.—(1) Whenever any weapon or part of a weapon forming part of the equipment
of a unit or detachment is lost or stolen, the officer commanding such unit or detachment may, after
obtaining the report of a Court of inquiry, impose a collective fine upon the warrant officers,
non-commissioned officers and men of such unit, or upon so many of them as, in his judgment, should be
held responsible for such loss, or theft.
1. Subs. by Act 19 of 1955, s. 2 and the Schedule, for “the Commander-in-Chief”(w.e.f. 7-5-1955).
31
(2) Such fine shall be assessed as a percentage on the pay of the individuals on whom it falls.