The Supreme Court of India on Nov. 25 called a Christian Indian Army officer a “misfit for the Indian Army” while declining to interfere with a regional court order upholding the termination of his services from the defense forces. 

The Christian officer, Lt. Samuel Kamalesan, had allegedly refused to enter the sanctum sanctorum of his regiment’s “sarv dharm sthal” (place of worship for all faiths) on the order of his superior, citing his Protestant Christian monotheistic belief. 

Kamalesan was dismissed from the Indian Army in March 2021 without pension or gratuity for his refusal to participate in specific religious rituals during regimental parades. 

Subsequently, Kamalesan approached the Delhi High Court challenging his dismissal, but the court upheld the Army’s termination in May. 

Now, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, came down heavily on the officer and called him a soldier who allowed his “religious ego” to override discipline, cohesion, and respect for his own men. 

The ruling underlined that soldiers cannot prioritize personal religious interpretation over the collective ethos of the armed forces. 

Kamalesan’s case, splashed across the national media headlines, underscores the complex interplay between individual rights, especially faith practices, and institutional discipline within the armed forces. 

This case drew massive attention across the country as the undercurrents of religious divide between the minority Christians and the majority Hindus in India continue to grow, fanned by Hindu nationalism. 

Kamalesan joined the Indian Army as a Lieutenant in the 3rd Cavalry regiment in 2017. The regiment comprised three squadrons of Sikh, Jat, and Rajput personnel. He was made the troop leader of Squadron B, which comprises Sikh personnel. 

In 2021, he was dismissed from the Army for refusing to enter the sanctum sanctorum of a “sarv dharm sthal,” despite repeated instructions from his commanding officer and advice from a pastor that his faith would not be affected by entering the structure, which housed a gurudwara and a temple. 

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioner in the court, submitted that the officer’s faith was monotheistic and that he refused to enter the innermost area because the sarv dharm sthal housed a gurudwara and a temple. He argued that his client feared being compelled to perform rituals prohibited by his faith. 

The bench, however, found the explanation untenable. “He has demonstrated the grossest form of contempt and indiscipline. He should have been thrown out only on the basis of the behavior he has shown,” the bench observed. 

Noting that the officer was a troop leader commanding Sikh, Jat, and Rajput soldiers, the court said his conduct was insulting to the sentiments of his men. “You are a troop leader, and your troop comprised Sikh soldiers. They are in a gurudwara, and this is how he conducts himself? The tone and tenor of his refusal is insulting to others.” 

The bench added that the officer acted out of “religious ego,” disregarding even his own pastor’s advice.  

“He does not even follow the advice of his own pastor,” it said. “He has said he would not enter such a place even when it has a church. If this is the attitude of a troop leader in an armed force, the less said the better.” 

When the petitioner argued that his constitutional rights were violated, the bench was categorical that Article 25 protects only essential religious practices — something missing in this case.  

“You could have your personal belief, but it was not an essential feature of your religion, as advised by the pastor. Essential features have to be respected, and likewise, you have to respect the collective faith of everyone else as a troop officer,” it said. 

Remarking that his behavior reflected the “grossest form of contempt and indiscipline,” the bench added that this type of “cantankerous attitude is not acceptable in an armed force.” 

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