All you want to know about Court Martial in Indian military

Hello aspirants,

Not many of you are aware of the military law and order, and therefore this post will be informative for you aspirants. I will let you all know about the court-martial law and its types. After reading this post, you will have complete knowledge about the procedure.

1. What is Court Martial?

• The Indian military has a different set of rules and regulation regarding law for all the serving personnel.

• The trial for military men is taken up in a court known as a court-martial.

• Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breakdown of military discipline may have occurred.

• There are twelve groups of people who can be trialled under court-martial or the military justice system.

• The military personnel, public sectors workers with the armed force, prisoner of military and war and even some specific civilians can be trialled under court-martial.

2. Types of court-martial

• There are four different types of court-martial in our country.

General Court Martial (GCM)

• This court is set up for the most serious offence committed.
• In the civil court hearing is done before the lower court likewise before the trail under the general court-martial hearing take place.
• The trial can be heard by a military judge alone or a military judge and a panel of few members.

District Court Martial (DCM)

• This type of court-martial is undertaken by any officer in power or any other authority who has been given the ability to initiate a trial.
• The court has the president of the rank not below commander or (equivalent rank in other services) and can pass any sentence regarding the cancellation of promotion for a period and in case of a sailor only short imprisonment. 

Summary General Court-Martial(SGCM)

• The court is undertaken by any officer in power but must not be below the rank of commander or (equivalent rank in other services)
• The president of this court is of the rank not below Lt. Commander or (equivalent rank in other services) and can pass any sentence as per the given authorisation.

Summary Court-Martial(SCM)

• The provisions for summary courts-martial were not introduced into the regular army till the sepoy mutiny of 1857
• This court serves the purpose for reviewing the offence which is minor and resolvable at this stage.
• If the accused is found guilty, then he can be awarded a maximum punishment of 30 days confinement, give up two third of his salary for a month, or he may be decreased to the lowest grade salary.

3. Exceptional cases

• According to the Army Act, Army courts can try personnel for all kinds of offences except for the murder and rape of a civilian, which are decided by a civil court.
• These offences are dealt with by the civil court of the country.

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