When an officer is, in time of war or during active service, alleged to have been guilty of a disciplinary offence, that is to say of a breach of sections 41, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 68 and 74 or of any of those sections read with section 75 or 76, the officer having the power to order a court-martial may, if he considers the offence to be of such a character as not to necessitate trial by court-martial, in lieu of ordering a court-martial, order a disciplinary court constituted as hereinafter mentioned.
