AFT directs Army to consider whistleblower for promotion :Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

AFT directs Army to consider whistleblower for promotion:
Vijay MohanTribune,News Service.
Chandigarh, April 30Two days before an Army selection board is to assemble, the Armed Forces Tribunal today ordered that the name of a Lieutenant Colonel who had alleged victimisation for blowing the whistle on his commanding officer, be included in the list of prospective candidates and he be considered for promotion to Colonel.
The petitioner, Lt Col B.S. Goraya, was being considered for promotion by the selection board in December 2009, but a gap in his confidential report profile from September 2008 to May 2009 led to his name being excluded. The Army had debarred his commanding officer to write his confidential report.“In January this year we had also forwarded a statement of case to debar a Major General, the next superior officer in the hierarchy from initiating his confidential report on the ground that it could lack objectivity in assessment due to circumstances of the case,” his counsel, Rajeev Anand said. “The matter was also repeatedly taken up with Army Headquarters,” he added.
Colonel Goraya, Second-in-Command of an Army Supply Corps battalion, had complained against his commanding officer for various irregularities in May 2009. A court inquiry was ordered and the petitioner was attached to Headquarters Western Command in August last.
The bench comprising Justice Ghanshyam Prashad and Lt Gen H.S. Panag observed that it was clear that the officer had taken all legitimate actions to cover the gap in his confidential report profile and the onus was on the Military Secretary’s Branch army to give a decision to regularize the gap.Pointing out that due to no fault of his, the name of the petitioner was withdrawn from the selection board held in December 2009 and the same was likely to happen for the board scheduled in May, the bench directed that the officer be considered in the board due next week and the gap in his profile should not be taken into account to defer him from being considered.

Tribunal finds Major’s dismissal order fabricated -Vijay Mohan,Tribune News Service :Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Tribunal finds Major’s dismissal order fabricated -Vijay Mohan,Tribune News Service.
Chandigarh, April 30
Observing that the termination order of an Army Major seemed to be fabricated and a coloured exercise, the Armed Forces Tribunal today set aside his dismissal and ruled that he be deemed to have superannuated from service.Disposing of a petition filed by Maj SL Sharma, the bench comprising Justice Ghanshyam Prashad and Lt Gen NS Brar also directed that he be given all consequential benefits that are admissible at the time of retirement.
The officer had retired in December 2006 and the dismissal order was communicated to him in February 2007 in a case that had been initiated as far back as 1994.He was posted as the Garrison Engineer at Danapur from 1991-94, when several charges of procedural lapses were levelled against him. A court of inquiry constituted into the matter went on from 1995 to 1998, following which disciplinary action was initiated. His trial by a general court martial (GCM), however, became time-barred in September 2002.
He had moved the Delhi High Court against the trial proceedings and the court had directed the GCM to consider and decide his plea on tie-bar. The bench observed that the authorities took another two years after that to issue him a show-cause notice for termination of services and further two-and-a-half years to arrive at a decision and dismiss him.The bench came to the conclusion that the administrative action taken under Section 19 of the Army Act was a colourable exercise and abuse of administrative power by the authorities, which led led to dismissal of the petitioner . “These are facts which throw serious doubts on the objective handling of the authorities and also lead to the conclusion that the order of dismissal may not be a genuine document,” the bench ruled.