‘Participating in Operation Sindoor doesn’t give you immunity': SC denies relief to army officer in dowry death case

A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and K Vinod Chandran asked the officer to surrender within a period of two weeks.

The Supreme Court refused to grant relief to an army officer who has been charged with the murder of his wife in a case of dowry death.

The army officer had moved the top court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court's decision denying him relief.(HT photo)

While rejecting the army officer's plea urging protection from arrest, a bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and K Vinod Chandran asked him to surrender within a period of two weeks, according to ANI news agency. 

The army officer had moved the top court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court's decision denying him relief.

While passing the order, the court said that an ‘exemption from surrender’ was only allowed in cases involving less serious offences, unlike the charges that the army officer had been accused of.

During the hearing, the bench noted that the fact that the convict was an army officer only showed he was fit and capable of having strangulated his wife to death, as per ANI. After hearing the counsels' arguments, the court agreed to issue a notice to the respondent State of Punjab, while denying the army officer's appeal.

SC says serving in Operation Sindoor no guarantee of immunity

The top court, while passing the judgment in the case, said that participation in ‘Operation Sindoor’ does not give the officer immunity to commit atrocities at home. The court's observation came after the defence counsel highlighted the convict's role as a black cat commando in the Indian Army, who had served during ‘Operation Sindoor’.

The accused had been previously convicted by a Punjab court for committing dowry death under section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), following which he appealed against the decision in the Punjab and Haryana HC. 

The HC suspended his sentence, until his appeal stood pending, after he had served three years in prison. However, the HC last month rejected his appeal, upholding his conviction and handing him ten years of imprisonment.