New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the dismissal from Indian Army of a Christian officer, Samel Kamalesan, for refusing to join a regimental weekly parade which included a prayer inside a gurudwara and temple.
The court dismissed the petition filed by Kamalesan challenging his termination from the Indian Armed Forces. The bench consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi declined to interfere with the order of the Delhi Court which upheld the termination.
The Chief Justice went to the extent of wondering how such persons could be entertained in the forces and commented, “Is this sort of cantankerous conduct permissible in a disciplined force?” as reported by Livelaw.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who represented the petitioner pointed out that the Kamalesan refused only to enter the innermost sanctum sanctorum of a temple at the place of his posting and he used to participate in multi-religious prayers in places where there were ‘sarva dharma sthals’ which was not there in the location he was posted. There was only a gurudwara and a temple in that place.
The Senior Advocate pleaded that he stood outside the spot in question since being part of the prayer there conflicted with the monotheistic faith he was following. He countered the court’s observation and said “He is not a cantankerous man” but a disciplined man in all other respects.
But the court was hardly convinced and said “What kind of message he has been sending …. He should have been thrown out for this only …. grossest kind of indiscipline by an army official.”
The counsel replied that a person joining the armed forces does not deprive him of his fundamental right to religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution.
Justice Bagchi responded to this saying that a pastor had opined that entering the sanctum would not violate the tenets of Christianity. Sankaranarayanan clarified that the said statement was in the context of a Sarva Dharma Sthal and not a temple.
When CJI Kant pointed out that he was not required to perform any rites, the petitioner's counsel said that as a troop leader, he was supposed to lead the rituals too. He added that the officer was ready to undertake to enter the sanctum sanctorum, provided there were no rituals to be performed.
The senior counsel submitted that all the petitioner said was that he could not be forced to worship a deity and the Constitution grants him such freedom.
The arguments went into further details of the prayer and premises involved and when the court was disinclined to accept the contention of the petitioner, his counsel pleaded to impose a lighter penalty citing that he has an otherwise unblemished record of service. That prayer too was rejected with the CJI saying to the effect that when the soldier fails to show that discipline, he did not deserve such consideration.
Kamalesan was commissioned in the army in the rank of a Lieutenant in 2017. He was made the Troop Leader of Squadron B which comprised Sikh, Jat and Rajput personnel. Kamalesan recalled that his regiment had a temple and a Gurudwara, but not a Sarv Dharm Sthal, nor was there a church in the premises.
The case brought to the fore the different perceptions of secularism. While the court decided that respect for all religions actualised through being present at the prayer of multiple religions formed part of that, the soldier refused to participate in other religions’ prayer sessions and held the ground that when it was against his monotheistic faith, he was entitled to keep away from prayers before deities.
The High Court found his conduct unacceptable and so did the apex court’s two-judge bench when the petitioner approached it in appeal.
(credits to Livelaw and agencies)