Clause 18

strikes or otherwise uses violence to, or offers violence to, a person superior in rank; or

uses threatening or insubordinate language or gestures to, or behaves with contempt to a person superior in rank,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction by a subordinate military court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years and if the offence is committed during active service, for a term not exceeding five years or any less punishment authorised by this Act except that it shall be a defence for any person charged under this section to prove that he neither knew nor had reasonable cause to believe that the person in relation to whom the offence is alleged to have been committed was a person superior in rank.