Chandigarh, September 5: A local court on Monday sent Col Manveer Singh Bains, accused of murdering Sector 37 resident Parveen Yadav, to 14-day judicial custody. It also rejected an application by the Army to transfer his custody to them.
The court said the accused was not in “active service” at the moment; Bains is currently on paid study leave.The defence said that even though the Colonel was on study leave, he was still attached to the Chandimandir command and a report of his progress was sent every six months. However, the prosecution argued that the incident occurred outside the Army area and Bains was arrested by the Chandigarh Police.
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The main argument of the defence revolved around Section 35 of the Army Act. The Section talks about the choice between criminal court and court martial. “When a criminal court and a court martial have jurisdiction in respect of an offence, it shall be in the discretion of the officer commanding the Army, Army corps, division or independent brigade in which the accused person is serving or such other officer as may be prescribed to decide before which court the proceedings shall be instituted, and, if that officer decides that they should be instituted before a court martial, to direct that the accused person shall be detained in military custody,” says the Act.
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