Provisions as to award of punishment
Section 82 of the Navy Act, 1957 deals with provisions as to award of punishment. The punishments that may be inflicted under this Act shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions of the following sub-sections. The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1958.
(1) The punishments that may be inflicted under this Act shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions of the following sub-sections.
(2) Except in the case of mutiny in time of war or on active service, the punishment of death shall not be inflicted on any offender until the sentence has been confirmed by the Central Government.
(3) The punishment of imprisonment for a term exceeding two years shall in all cases be accompanied by a sentence of dismissal with disgrace from the naval service.
(4) The punishment of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years may in all cases be accompanied by a sentence of dismissal with disgrace or dismissal from the naval service:
Provided that in the case of officers, unless the sentence of dismissal with disgrace is also awarded, such sentence of imprisonment shall involve dismissal from the naval service.
(5) The sentence of imprisonment may be rigorous or simple, or partly rigorous and partly simple.
(6) The sentence of dismissal with disgrace shall involve in all cases forfeiture of all pay, head money, bounty, salvage, prize money and allowances that have been earned by and of all annuities, pensions, gratuities, medals and decorations that may have been granted to the offender and an incapacity to serve Government again in a defence service, or a civil service, or to hold any post connected with defence or any civil post under the Government:
Provided that the forfeiture of moneys shall not apply, except in the case of deserters, to moneys which should have been paid on the last pay day preceding conviction.
(7) The punishment of dismissal from the naval service shall in the case of persons who hold any lien on appointments in the regular Army or Air Force, involve dismissal from such army or air force service.
(8) The punishment of detention may be inflicted for any term not exceeding two years but no sentence of detention shall be awarded unless naval detention quarters or army or air force detention barracks are in existence.
(9) The punishment of imprisonment or detention whether on board ship or on shore shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (14), involve 1[reduction in rank], in the case of a petty officer or a person holding a leading 2[rank], and shall in all cases be accompanied by stoppage of pay and allowances during the term of imprisonment or detention:
Provided that where the punishment awarded is detention for a term not exceeding fourteen days, the sentence may direct that the punishment shall not be accompanied by stoppage of pay and allowances during the term of detention.
(10) No officer shall be subject to detention.
(11) The punishment of forfeiture of seniority shall be imposed in the substantive rank held at the date of the sentence, and shall involve a corresponding forfeiture of seniority in every higher acting rank subject always to the condition that forfeiture of seniority in any rank shall in no case exceed the seniority in that rank at the date of the sentence.
(12) The punishment of forfeiture of seniority shall involve the loss of the benefit of service included in the seniority forfeited for the purposes of pay, pension, gratuity, promotion and such other purposes, as may be prescribed, provided that such pay, pension, gratuity and promotion and other purposes depend upon such service.
3[(12A) No master chief petty officer shall be subject to the punishment of forfeiture of seniority of more than twelve months.]
(13) The punishment of forfeiture of time for promotion shall delay the promotion by the time specified,
3[(13A) No master chief petty officer shall be subject to the punishment of forfeiture of time for promotion of more than twelve months.]
(14) No person shall be 4[reduced in rank] below the limits prescribed, or lower either actually or relatively than the 5[rank] in which he entered or was appointed in the naval service.
(15) Mulcts of pay and allowances shall not be awarded except as provided in sub-sections (16) and (17).
(16) Mulcts of pay and allowances shall be awarded in accordance with the regulations made under this Act on conviction of offences under Section 31.
(17) Mulcts of pay may also be awarded to make good any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence on which there is a conviction, and for the offence of drunkenness by 6[sailors].
(18) The punishment of fine may be awarded in respect of civil offences in addition to, or in lieu of, other punishments specified in this Act.
(19) The forfeiture of moneys under clause (m) of sub-section (1) of section 81 shall not, except in case of desertion apply to moneys which should have been paid on the last pay day preceding conviction.
(20) All other punishments authorised by this Act may be inflicted in such manner as is heretofore in use in the naval service or as may be prescribed.
(21) Subject to the provisions of the foregoing sub-sections, where any punishment is specified by this Act as the penalty for an offence and it is further declared that "such other punishment as is hereinafter mentioned" may be awarded in respect of the same offence, the expression "such other punishment" shall be deemed to comprise any one or more of the punishments inferior in degree to the specified punishment according to the scale of punishments laid down in sub-section (1) of section 81.
Section 82, The Navy Act, 1957 (Act 62 of 1957).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Lt. Cdr. Malkiat Singh Khela (Retd.) v. Union of India & Anr.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
SC dismissed appeal of a retired Lieutenant Commander punished by court-martial under Navy Act s.68 with forfeiture of 36 months' seniority and severe reprimand under s.81(1)(f) and (l). Held that for pension qualifying service, forfeiture of seniority under the Act is not a mere rank-label change: reading s.81 with s.82(12) and Navy (Pension) Regulations Appendix III, the forfeited period is excluded from qualifying service, so 20 calendar years became 17 and pension was rightly discontinued/recovered after show-cause. DATE VERIFIED Judgment 22.01.2013 (order-9.pdf).
On this section: s.82 Provisions as to award of punishment — sub-s.(12) is the operative isolate: forfeiture of seniority = loss of service benefit for pension/pay/gratuity/promotion.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 82
What have the courts held on Section 82 of the Navy Act?
Lt. Cdr. Malkiat Singh Khela (Retd.) v. Union of India & Anr. (22 Jan 2013) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: s.82 Provisions as to award of punishment — sub-s.(12) is the operative isolate: forfeiture of seniority = loss of service benefit for pension/pay/gratuity/promotion.
How do I find court cases under Section 82 of the Navy Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Navy Act 1957 82, section 82 Navy Act 1957, section 82 of the Navy Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Lt. Cdr. Malkiat Singh Khela (Retd.) v. Union of India & Anr. (22 Jan 2013).
What should I read with Section 82 of the Navy Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 31 (Liability for maintenance of wife and children), section 81 (Punishments), so none of them can safely be read on its own.
When did Section 82 of the Navy Act come into force?
Section 82 of the Navy Act, cited as Navy Act 1957 82, came into force on 01 Jan 1958, having been enacted on 27 Dec 1957. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 97. Constitution of courts-martial1231 words
- 31. Liability for maintenance of wife and children1010 words
- 3. Definitions777 words
- 133. Presumption as to certain documents679 words
- 168. Appointment of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy and his subordinate officers526 words
- 171. Disposal of property of deceased sailors518 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 19 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.