A Heart Problem in the Indian Army

A battle-weary major moves court to marry his lady love, a US citizen

It was not really such an unusual love story. Yogeshchandra Madhav Sayankar, a major in the Indian Army, met Shruti Kulkarni, a United States national, a couple of years ago. They stayed in touch with each other and at some point fell in love. As happens with relationships that turn serious, the next logical step was marriage. And here, the story has definitely become unusual.

A clause in the Indian Army’s code of conduct states that if a soldier wants to marry a foreign national, he must have prior permission from the Central Government. Sayankar, therefore, sent an application to his Army bosses, requesting that he be allowed to marry.

It was all supposed to be routine. The application would have been duly forwarded to the Centre and permission granted. But Sayankar received no reply. There was silence at the other end. After waiting for some time, the major sent in another application. In this, he went on to state that he was even willing to quit his job or take voluntary retirement from service. The silence continued. Exasperated, he sent yet another application saying he was willing to forgo his retirement benefits if he was relieved from the Army. He still did not get a reply.

Left with no other recourse, Sayankar has now petitioned the Bombay High Court for help. Last September, the court directed the Centre to file its statement. Since Sayankar is bound by service rules, he cannot attend court, but is represented by his lawyer Anand Grover. “Through the petition he is seeking permission to marry,” says Grover. “He does not want publicity for the issue.”

About The Author

Haima Deshpande