SC order puts lens on disciplinary proceedings in Navy

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SC order puts lens on disciplinary proceedings in Navy



The Supreme Court order on Tuesday, dismissing Navy's demand to uphold the sacking of an officer, is yet another validation for many of their argument that disciplinary proceedings in the force are increasingly flawed.



A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu upheld the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) order asking the Navy to reinstate Commander Kalyan Kumar. The Navy had sacked Kumar and two other officers in May 2013, accusing them of compromising national security. The Board of Inquiry's claim that the three officers compromised national security was not accepted by the AFT and the SC.



It now turns out that the BoI report on the three officers did not contain any solid evidence of compromising national security, and only had a lot of details from their personal emails and other communications. The disciplinary proceedings were not critically examined by anyone higher up in the chain, resulting in the reputation of all three officers being irrevocably damaged.



"Petty egos are the deciding factor in many of the boards of inquiry, and there are many local factors at play. Many members of boards of inquiry are not willing to ask questions or stand up, instead, almost all sign on the dotted line," a mid-rung naval officer said. He pointed out that there were many instances in recent times when the BoI proceedings were visibly flawed.



"The worst today is that when an inquiry report is submitted, no one higher up seems to be carrying out an objective assessment. Nobody wants to raise uncomfortable questions," the officer said.



Another common complaint among mid-rung officers is about the vested interests of members of the boards of inquiry in many instances.



For example, the Navy is agog about the BoI into the accident on INS Sindhuratna submarine in which two people were killed in February last year. Sources said there were repeated complaints about the procedure, including the vested interests of most members of the board which sat on the fate of many young officers who are in the dock for the Sindhuratna mishap.



While Commander Kalyan Kumar fought his case till the Supreme Court, the two other dismissed officers have moved on to new careers. However, many officers are now asking if the defence ministry will fix responsibility on those in the Navy responsible for such rampant misuse of power and for ruining reputations and careers.

SC order puts lens on disciplinary proceedings in Navy - The Times of India

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To a great extent, it is right that Disciplinary Proceedings of the Defence Forces is high flawed and mostly totally influenced by the desire of the personal ordering the C of I (Board of Inquiry in Naval parlance).



The problem is that the Judge, Jury and the Executioner is vested in only one organisation i.e. JAG (Judge Advocate General) Branch and the JAG's future is decided by the very person who order the Inquiry, the Summary of Evidence, Court Martial and who Promulgate the Sentence.



Much debate has gone on internally, but none wants to give away the powers of being 'Mogambo, Khus Hai' since it could be taken as losing face and thus authority and unquestioned ease in exercising command.

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