The Hindu : Delhi HC notice to Centre, four Army officers

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Friday, Mar 07, 2003

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Delhi HC notice to Centre, four Army officers

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MARCH 6. The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Union Government and four senior Army officers on a petition by a dismissed Major seeking an inquiry into the conduct of the four defence personnel prior to the Kargil war of 1999.

The petitioner, Maj. Manish Bhatnagar, said that during his posting in Siachen Glacier he had observed intrusion into Indian territory and reported about it to his Commanding Officer, Col. A.K. Srivastava, but no follow-up action was taken.

He alleged that Col. Srivastava connived with Maj.Gen. V.S. Budhwar, Brig. P.C. Katochi and Brig. A.K. Duggal and chose not to take any action or report it to the Army Headquarters.

On the contrary, Col. Srivastava tried various means to keep the petitioner out of the area of intrusion, Maj. Bhatnagar alleged.

Instead, Col. Srivastava got prepared a false report against him accusing him of disobeying Brig. Devender Singh's order to attack Point 5203 on June 15, 1999, whereas the fact about Point 5203 at that time was that it had already been captured by the Indian troops on June 10, 1999, as per the gazette notification of the Government, the petitioner said.

When a Staff Court of Inquiry cleared the petitioner of all the charges, Maj. Bhatnagar filed a complaint alleging that the adverse report prepared against him was false, counsel for the petitioner, Arati Mahajan, said.

In retaliation, the petitioner was served a fresh charge-sheet and evidence was once again recorded against him. However, Col. Srivastava during his cross-examination admitted that Maj. Bhatnagar had reported to him about the intrusion in January-February 1999, but he failed to produce the written report stating that he had destroyed it, the petition said.

It was brought on record that Col. Srivastava, along with Brig. Katoch and Maj.Gen. Budhwar, had failed to take any action against the intrusion or report it to the Army Headquarters, the petition said.

The petitioner sought legal action against these officers but the Government failed to even investigate the offence of such a serious nature, the petition said.

A Division Bench, comprising Justice Vijender Jain and Justice B.N. Chaturvedi, asked the respondents to file their replies by May 5.

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