AFT ORDERS MS TO APOLOGISE TO WAR VETERAN

Delivering a sharp rap on the knuckles for not adhering to a judgement given by it and causing undue harassment to a petitioner, the Kolkata bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal has directed the Military Secretary, Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain to express regret to the petitioner.

Giving its directions in a contempt application field by Col Arun Dattaji Patole (retd), naming the Military Secretary, Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain and the Chief of Army Staff, General Bikram Singh as respondents, the AFT bench has also come down very hard on the Col MS (Legal) for not taking the matter seriously. The bench has found his attitude to be "callous" and recommended action against him by higher authorities, if they so desire.

The genesis of the order lies in an order given by the bench earlier directing the MS to hold a special promotion board of the officer to the rank of Brigadier and intimate the result to him with complete reasoning. He was also directed to provide a personal hearing to the Colonel if he was not satisfied with the reply.

The Army did hold a special promotion board but communicated its result in a perfunctory manner without giving any detailed reasoning:

"I.  Ref WP 15548(W)|2OO3  filed by you in the High Court at Kolkata.
2 . Consequent  to  the relief granted by Kolkata High Court in WP 1,5548-w/2003  vide order dated 2 Feb 2, you were considered  as Special  Revielw  (Fresh) case of the 1971 batch of AOC by the No. 2 SB held from 06 to 0B Apr 2011,  under the previous system of selection  (value judgement) and not approved  for promotion  to the acting rank of Brig."

When the officer reminded the MS of the directions of the AFT bench and that he wanted an interview with him he received an arrogant reply which bordered on dismissive attitude:

"  In case you want to  have personal hearing you must intimate  the date so that date is fixed and case be
explained about non  empanelment along with  the reasons as directed by  the  Hon'ble Armed Forces
Tribunal.  lt is clarified  that you have to come on at your own expenses  for the said interview,  as no funds are allocated for  calling retired  officers for  personal hearing."

Clearly, not pleased with the action taken by the MS Branch in pursuance of the orders given by it, the Bench passed the following hard-hitting order.

 "We direct that MS, during his visits to various Command HQs. including Pune and Kolkata (where


the appricant  usualy resides)  must intimate the applicant  and grant all possible facilities  to give him a personal hearing in which all aspects must be explained  to  him in detail within the limits of security.  The applicant  should be apprised  as to why he was low on merit and whether ail points that were to be covered
have indeed been covered  while considering  his case in the special  board. subsequent  to such a personal  hearing,  it will only be appropriate  for the MS on behalf of the respondents to express  regret to the war veteran for the delay and agony thus caused.  Thereafter,  the MS shall pass a speaking  order in writing explaining  the detairs of the interview and the reasons  for non-empanelment  of the applicant  in the special
board that was conducted  on the order of this Tribunal".

NEXT ARMY JAG LANDS IN PROMOTION MESS

Even as the war for succession for the next Chief of Army Staff is still on, the Army's Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch has landed in a controversy over the next Judge Advocate General. The present JAG retires on January 31 but the one anointed to be the successor may not be able to take over because of a stay on his promotion by Kolkata bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).

Brig PS Rathore, currently serving as Deputy Judge Advocate General (DJAG) in South Western Command in Jaipur has been approved for the rank of Major General. But a petition against him is pending in the Kolkata AFT which had last month put a stay on his promotion. That stay order has not been vacated as yet. On top of that, the petitioner against Brig Rathore, Lt Col Mukul Dev, has filed a contempt application in the Kolkata AFT seeking action against the Army authorities for de-classifying Brig Rathore's promotion board result inspite of the stay order of the AFT.

The genesis of this mess lies some years back when Brig Rathore was serving as DJAG Central Command in Lucknow and Lt Col Dev was posted there as AJAG. To cut the story short, things were not good between them as one thing led to another, Lt Col Dev was shifted to a non-criteria appointment, a Part-II order was issued when, perhaps, it should not have been, and as a result of all this brouhaha a Court of Inquiry was ordered.

The CoI found several officers blameworthy, including Lt Col Dev and Brig Rathore. However, inexplicably, while Lt Col Dev got 'Severe Displeasure' from the Army Cdr, Brig Rathore did not get any punishment.

Lt Col Dev's promotion prospects got affected because he had not been adequately exercised when he had been moved away from the appointment of AJAG and then, of course, because of the punishment.
Consequently, he moved the AFT which passed the orders which have been enunciated above.

One would expect the JAG officers serving at senior appointments to be well-versed with the law so that such situations do not arise. But apparently, all is not well in the JAG Branch.

The JAG is also the principal legal advisor to the Army Chief. And with the present one retiring, the new one will not be at hand to help the Chief in any legal imbroglio of the organisation. Something for the Army Chief to chew on while he fights a personal legal battle over his date of birth.