(1) Sailors may, in exceptional cases, obtain their discharges in India on extreme compassionate grounds, that is today, in cases in which it is clear that undoubted material hardship to the sailor or dependents is involved by his retention in the Service.
(2) Discharge shall not be claimed as a right, however, and nothing in these regulations shall interfere with the power of the Government to suspend discharge on compassionate grounds or to refuse discharge in particular case.
(3) Applications submitted other than by the serving individual shall not be considered, and the applicant informed accordingly. Serving sailors in respect of whom an application is approved, washing not to be discharged subsequently, shall be required to furnish a signed statement to this effect.
(4) Applications for discharge on compassionate grounds shall be forwarded by the Commanding Officer through the Administrative Authority to the Captain Naval Barracks for transmission to the Chief of the Naval Staff. They shall be scrutinised and if the grounds appear to be reasonable, reference shall be made by the Chief of the Naval Staff to the Deputy Commissioner or Collector of the district concerned for verification of the circumstances stated therein and for an opinion as to whether or not the application for discharge is justifiable.
(5) Applications that have been subjected to investigation, and have received the recommendations of the civil authorities, shall be submitted to the Chief of the Naval Staff, who shall be the competent authority to determine whether or not the application for discharge on compassionate grounds is to be granted. Personnel whose request for premature discharge from service under such circumstances is granted by the Chief of the Naval Staff, shall if required, be liable to serve for the unexpired portion of their original service engagement Fleet Reserve in addition to the period for which they are normally required to serve in the Fleet Reserve under the terms of their original engagement. If the sailor is required for Reserve Service, the order granting the discharge shall clearly specify in each case:-
(a) that the discharge is restricted to his obligation to render service for the unexpired portion of such engagement, and
(b) that he will be required to serve in the Fleet Reserve for-
(i) the unexpired portion of the service engagement:
(ii) and for the full period of his original Reserve Service engagement thereafter.
If he is not required for Reserve Service, the order granting the discharge shall so specify. A declaration in writing according to the above conditions shall be obtained from him prior to his actual discharge from service.