(1) When a person is qualified for consideration in accordance with these rules, the Commanding Officer shall consider the award of badge whether the person applies for the same or not. If the Commanding Officer decides that the person has maintained the requisite standard of conduct and is in all respects deserving badge, he shall award the badge with effect from the due date and record his decision in pencil on page 4 of the service book and on the Good Conduct Badges return as shown in Annexure. On receipt of Good Conduct Badge Return duly verified by the officer-in-charge Bureau of Naviks, the date of award as confirmed on the return shall be recorded on page 4 of the service book in ink.
(2) If after considering the award of a badge, the Commanding Officer decides that the person has clearly failed to reach the necessary standard (his decision shall operate as a break in the continuity of Very Good Conduct), the Commanding Officer's decision not to award the badge shall be recorded on page 4 of the person's service book alongside para 15. The break in very Good Conduct as well as the date of recommencement of very good conduct shall be recorded on page 27/28 of the service book. This entry shall be made in red ink and signed by the Commanding Officer.
(3) In appropriate cases, however, instead of deciding not to award the badge, the commanding officer may direct the person to appear before him again after a period not less than 3 or more than 6 months. This decision should be noted on page 4 alongside para 15 of the service book and during this period, the person shall not be promoted in rank.
(4) Should the Commanding Officer decide at the end of the period of deferment that javascript:void();
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the person's conduct during the two years preceding that date may now be considered to have reached the qualifying standard, the badge shall be awarded from the date of such final decision and the entry on page 4 of the service book will be underlined to indicate that the deferment was intentional.
(5) If, however, at the end of the period of deferment, the commanding officer decides that the person's conduct is still below the requisite standard, the continuity of his Very Good Conduct shall be regarded as broken on the day he qualified for consideration of the award in the first instance. The fresh date of recommencement of Very Good Conduct, that is to say, the day after the person qualified for consideration in the first instance, shall be entered in red ink on page 27/28 of the service book and signed by the commanding officer.
(6) A person who has received one or more minor punishments not involving a break in the continuity of Very Good Conduct during the two years immediately preceding the award may nevertheless be deemed worthy of badge, if his general conduct and bearing are of the requisite standard. Conversely, although a person may not have been punished, the commanding officer might, in certain circumstances, consider him below the requisite standard.
(7) Before a person is deprived of a Good Conduct Badge, the commanding officer must invariably ascertain whether he is due for the award of any badges, and if he is due, then the commanding officer should consider the award of the badges with reference to the person's conduct prior to the commission of the offence with which he has been charged. If the conduct of the person so merits, the commanding officer should award the Good Conduct Badge due. The question of deprivation of a badge or badges shall then be considered on the merits of the case.