Overview

• On May 30, a bench led by Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur rejected Kamalesan’s appeal and upheld his 2017 dismissal without pension or gratuity.
• Kamalesan, a lieutenant in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment commissioned in 2017, joined his troops at the temple and gurdwara but refused to enter the Mandir’s inner sanctum during weekly puja ceremonies.
• Despite multiple counselling sessions by his superiors emphasising regimental unity, he maintained his stance, prompting the Army to cite his refusal as misconduct.
• His petition noted that the unit lacked a church or ‘Sarv Dharm Sthal’, hosting only a Mandir and Gurudwara for religious parades.
• The judgment stressed that armed forces discipline exceeds civilian norms, requiring officers to prioritise unit cohesion over individual preferences.