Defence Act, 1954

Mitigation, remission, etc., of sentences (other than death sentences) after confirmation.

221.—(1) Where a sentence (other than a sentence of death) passed by a court-martial has been confirmed, a superior authority may do any one or more of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) he may mitigate the punishment thereby awarded to a less amount of the same kind of punishment;

(b) he may remit such punishment in whole or in part;

(c) he may,—

(i) in case such punishment is dismissal with ignominy from the Defence Forces or dismissal from the Defence Forces awarded for an offence under section 139, substitute for it any less punishment mentioned in the Scale to subsection (1) of section 209,

(ii) in any other case, substitute for it any less punishment to which the offender might have been sentenced by the court-martial by which the sentence was passed.

(2) Where a sentence passed by a court-martial has been confirmed and is found for any reason to be invalid, a superior authority may pass a valid sentence and the sentence so passed shall have the same effect as if passed by the court-martial and duly confirmed, but the punishment awarded by that sentence shall not be higher in the Scale to subsection (1) of section 209, or subsection (1) of section 210 (whichever of those subsections is appropriate) than the punishment awarded by the invalid sentence nor, in the opinion of the said superior authority, be in excess of the last-mentioned punishment.

(3) Each of the following shall be a superior authority for the purposes of this section—

(a) the Minister,

(b) the Adjutant-General,

(c) any general or flag officer appointed by the Minister for the purpose.