70. Civil offences not triable by court-martial.—A person subject to this Act who commits an offence of murder against a person not subject to Military, naval or air force law, or of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against such a person or of rape in relation to such a person, shall not be deemed to be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall not be tried by a court-martial, unless he commits any of the said offences—
- (a) while on active service, or
- (b) at any place outside India, or
- (c) at a frontier post specified by the Central Government by notification in this behalf.
Explanation.—In this section and in section 69, "India" does not include the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
CHAPTER VII
PUNISHMENTS
71. Punishment awardable by courts-martial.—Punishments may be inflicted in respect of offences committed by persons subject to this Act and convicted by courts-martial, according to the scale following, that is to say,—
- (a) death;
- (b) transportation for life or for any period not less than seven years;
- (c) imprisonment, either rigorous or simple, for any period not exceeding fourteen years;
- (d) cashiering, in the case of officers;
- (e) dismissal from the service;
- (f) reduction to the ranks or to a lower rank or grade or place in the list of their rank, in the case of warrant officers; and reduction to the ranks or to a lower rank or grade, in the case of non-commissioned officers:
- Provided that a warrant officer reduced to the ranks shall not be required to serve in the ranks as a sepoy;
- (g) forfeiture of seniority of rank, in the case of officers, junior commissioned officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned officers; and forfeiture of all or any part of their service for the purpose of promotion, in the case of any of them whose promotion depends upon length of service;
- (h) forfeiture of service for the purpose of increased pay, pension or any other prescribed purpose;
- (i) severe reprimand or reprimand, in the case of officers, junior commissioned officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned officers;
- (j) forfeiture of pay and allowances for a period not exceeding three months for an offence committed on active service;
- (k) forfeiture in the case of a person sentenced to cashiering or dismissal from the service of all arrears of pay and allowances and other public money due to him at the time of such cashiering or dismissal;
- (l) stoppage of pay and allowances until any proved loss or damage occasioned by the offence of which he is convicted is made good.
72. Alternative punishments awardable by court-martial.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, a court-martial may, on convicting a person subject to this Act of any of the offences specified in sections 34 to 68 inclusive, award either the particular punishment with which the offence is stated in the said sections to be punishable, or, in lieu thereof, any one of the punishments lower in the scale set out in section 71, regard being had to the nature and degree of the offence.
