.-(1) Upon the record of the plea of "guilty", if there are other charges in the same charge-sheet to which the plea is "not guilty", the trial shall first proceed with respect to those other charges, and after findings on those charges, shall proceed with the charges on which a plea of "guilty" has been entered; but if they are alternative charges, the Court may either proceed with respect to all the charges as if the accused had not pleaded "guilty" to any charge or may, subject to sub-rule (2), instead of so trying him, proceed under sub-rule (3) in respect of the charges to which he has pleaded guilty.(2)Where alternative charges are preferred and the accused pleads "not guilty" to the charge which alleges the more serious offence and "guilty" to the other, the Court shall try the accused person as if he had pleaded "not guilty" to all the charges:Provided that this sub-rule shall not apply if the concurrence of the convening officer has been signified by the prosecutor.(3)The procedure of the Court in respect of a charge on which a plea of "guilty" has been recorded, shall be as follows:-(a)The Court shall receive any statement which the accused desires to make with reference to the charge, and shall read the summary of evidence, and annex it to the proceedings, or if there is no such summary, shall take and record sufficient evidence to enable them to determine the sentence and the confirming officer to know all the circumstances connected with the offence. This evidence will be taken in like manner as is directed by these rules in the case of a plea of "not guilty";(b)After the evidence has been so taken, or the summary of evidence has been read, as the case may be, the accused may make a statement on mitigation of punishment, and may call witnesses as to his character. If the accused at any Court-Martial states anything in mitigation of punishment which, in the opinion of the Court, requires to be proved and would, if proved, affect the amount of punishment, the Court may permit the accused to call witnesses to prove the same;(c)If from the statement of the accused, or from the summary of evidence or otherwise it appears to the Court that the accused did not understand the effect of his plea of "guilty", the Court shall record its opinion and proceed with the trial as on a plea of "not guilty"; otherwise the Court shall, subject to rule 71, record a finding of "guilty" on the charge;(d)When a Court has recorded an opinion as is referred to in clause (c) and proceeds with the trial as on a plea of "not guilty", they shall, if there was a charge laid in the alternative which the prosecutor withdrew under rule 60, reinstate such alternative charge, arraign the accused thereon and proceed with the trial as if such charge had never been withdrawn.(4)If a plea of "guilty" is recorded on any charge, and the trial proceeds with respect to other charges in the same charge-sheet, the proceedings under sub-rule (3) shall take place when the findings on the other charges in the same charge-sheet have been recorded.]
