The Delhi High Court has directed the Army to consider afresh the plea of an officer of the rank of Major to quit the Force through premature resignation as he has been unable to balance his professional and personal life due to stress.

Major Abhishek Dwivedi had moved the High Court challenging the April 24, 2018, decision of the Integrated HQ of MoD (Army), Adjutant General’s Branch, Directorate of Medical Services (Army) rejecting his premature resignation plea.

Matrimonial discord

In his plea, Major Dwivedi said there was a matrimonial discord with his wife due to which he was not in a position to keep a balance between his professional and personal life. He said his wife had initiated divorce proceedings in a family court in New Delhi.

Major Dwivedi was commissioned in the Army on February 26, 2009, as a Substantive Captain and has subsequently served in the rank of Major.

Later he appeared in the NEET PG examination for the Advance/PG Courses for Armed Forces Medical College Officers for 2013-16 session.

Sign undertaking

As he was selected for the subject of radio diagnosis, he was asked to sign and accept an undertaking which detailed the service/financial liability in the event he seeks premature resignation from the service. This at the time was a period of 10 years from the date of completion of the advanced degree course and a sum of about ₹15 lakh (minus the years of physical service after completion of the course).

‘Discriminated’

Major Dwivedi completed his course in June 2016. He submitted his application seeking premature release in February 2018, but it was “not accepted due to pending service liability”.

He contended that he has been discriminated against with at least three of his colleagues, who had all undergone both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the Armed Forces Institute, but were granted premature release.

A Bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Sanjeev Narula was of the view that it was necessary for the authority concerned in the Army to give reasons for the rejection of Major Dwivedi’s request.

“A single-line order merely stating that the request was being rejected on account of ‘pending service liabilities’ does not satisfy the requirement of the law,” the Bench remarked.

Quashing the rejection order, the High Court directed the Competent Authority in the Army to consider afresh the request of Major Dwivedi.

“In particular, the Competent Authority will consider the petitioner’s grounds as set out in this petition as well as the additional affidavit and give a fresh decision with reasons,” the High Court ordered.