A Soldier A fires on a mob by the order of his superior officer in conformity with the commands of the law. Has A committed any offence? Give relevant provision of law.

Question: A Soldier A fires on a mob by the order of his superior officer in conformity with the commands of the law. Has A committed any offence? Give relevant provision of law. [U.P. APO 1997, WBCJ.1998]

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [A Soldier A fires on a mob by the order of his superior officer in conformity with the commands of the law. Has A committed any offence? Give relevant provision of law. [U.P. APO 1997, WBCJ.1998]

Answer

Section 76 of IPC provides for an act done by a person bound or by mistake of fact believing himself bound by law. The provision states that nothing is an offence which is done by a person who is, or who by reason of a mistake of fact and not by the reason of a mistake of law in good faith, believed himself to be, bound of law to do it.

Further, section 79 of the code states that nothing is an offence which is done by any person who is justified by law, or who by reason of a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law in good faith believes himself to be justified by the law in doing it.

Applying the provisions in the present case, it is clear that the soldier has acted on the order and authority of his superior authority under the commands of the law, Hence, his actions are justified by law and bound by law under sections 76 and 79 of IPC. Hence, he has committed no offence.

In R v. Smith, (1900) 17 SCR 561, where a soldier in obedience to order by his superior shot dead a Boer civilian. He was acquired of murder, although his command was unlawful. The court observed that the soldier honestly believed he is doing his duty by obeying the commands of his superior, and if the orders are not so manifestly illegal that he must or ought to have known they are unlawful, the private soldier would be protected by the orders of his superior officer.

It must be noted that only obedience to the legal orders of a superior is justifiable under section 76 and not the illegal ones. The law does not recognize the duty of blind obedience to the commands of a superior unless he believed in good faith that he was bound to obey that order. Here, the law requires that the soldier should exercise his own judgment.

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