By Admin 
The Supreme Court has said that the character of the army is secular and discipline is paramount there. No person is fit to remain in the Army who, on grounds of personal belief, refuses to go to the regiment’s religious place. With these comments, the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi rejected the petition of an officer dismissed from the army.
Samuel Kamleson was recruited in 2017 as Lieutenant in the Third Cavalry Regiment. There are mainly Sikh, Jat and Rajput soldiers in this regiment. He was made the troop leader of Squadron B which has Sikh soldiers. According to the regiment’s system, every week he had to lead the religious parade in which the soldiers go to the religious place. Samuel did not participate in this parade saying that there are only temples and Gurudwaras in the regiment. Being a Christian he will not enter them.
Army officers tried to convince Samuel for a long time. For this, help was taken from other Christian officers who told that this is part of army discipline. Even the local pastor (Christian priest) told Samuel that going to a religious place would not harm the Christian faith. After all efforts failed, on March 3, 2021, on the orders of the Army Chief, he was dismissed from the army without paying pension and gratuity.
Samuel Kamleson challenged his dismissal in the Delhi High Court. In May this year, the High Court bench of Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur upheld his dismissal. The High Court said that the armed forces are united because of their uniform, not divided on the basis of religion. The matter is not about religious freedom, but about following the legitimate orders of a senior officer. Now the Supreme Court has also said that Samuel not only committed indiscipline but also hurt the sentiments of his regiment comrades by his conduct.