Overview
- A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on 25 November dismissed Lt. Samuel Kamalesan’s appeal, leaving intact a May Delhi High Court order upholding his 2021 termination.
- The court said Article 25 safeguards only essential religious practices and noted that, under Article 33, service rules can limit individual claims to preserve armed forces discipline.
- Calling his conduct the “grossest kind of indiscipline” and deeming him a “misfit” for the Army, the bench refused to reduce the penalty and said the outcome should “send a strong message.”
- Kamalesan, commissioned in 2017 to the 3rd Cavalry’s Sikh-majority squadron, had declined to enter the sanctum of the unit’s temple and gurdwara or perform rituals, saying he would remain respectfully in the courtyard.
- The Army told the courts he persisted despite repeated counselling, including advice from a pastor that entry would not breach Christian tenets, and that his stance threatened unit cohesion and morale, leading the Chief of Army Staff to find his retention undesirable.