‘Modi Wearing Indian Army Uniform Is A Punishable Offence’

Uttar Pradesh’s district court has issued a notice to the Prime Minister’s Office over Modi wearing an Indian Army uniform on his visit to Kashmir. The observation came after a plea was filed at the court in Prayagraj that stated that wearing garb or carrying tokens used by a soldier, sailor or airmen is an offence punishable under Section 140 of the Indian Penal Code.

The district judge Nalin Kumar Srivastava issued the notice hearing arguments of advocate Rakesh Nath Pandey, who had moved the application under section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The application was first filed by Pandey when chief judicial magistrate Harendra Nath had rejected it saying that the incident did not take place within the jurisdiction of the court and the matter can be heard by a magistrate having jurisdiction.

PM Modi was seen several times in an Indian army uniform. As has been his habit for the past few Diwalis, he appeared in the Indian Army’s uniform and addressed the jawans as if he were a military commander. No other Indian prime minister, right from Jawaharlal Nehru, to Manmohan Singh, has appeared in an army uniform publicly. As per the rule, no democratically elected prime minister appears in a military uniform anywhere else in the world.