Indian commander distorts Kargil war account: Probe
Monitoring Desk
New DelhiRaising serious questions about the military leadership in the 1999 Kargil war, the Indian Armed Forces Tribunal on Thursday has indicted a former Lieutenant General for showing bias towards a Brigadier playing down his achievements and for falsifying accounts of battles, NDTV report said.
The Tribunal, whose observation has come as an embarrassment to the Army, directed that the affected officer Brigadier Devinder Singh ((Retd) be considered for a notional promotion.
The matter came to light after Singh who led 70 Infantry Brigade in the Batalik sector in the Kargil war, filed a petition in the Delhi High Court complaining of wrong depiction of his battle performance. Several complaints similar to Singh are pending before the Tribunal.
The report of Lieutenant General Kishan Pal, then General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, who oversaw operations in that sector not only cost him a war medal but also deprived the Brigadier of promotion as Major-General.
I feel vindicated, said a visibly happy Singh recounting his long battle with authorities.
One has gone through a number of stages of non-statutory complaints, statutory complaints, legal notices and several writ petitions...Finally the order has seen the light of the day, said Devinder Singh.
The Tribunal has asked the Army to consider Singh, a former 70 Infantry Brigade Commander, for promotion to the notional rank of major general and to put the relevant records and documents pertaining to operations by his formation in Batalik sector written by him to be corrected and put in the right perspective.
In its order, the Tribunal, headed by Justice A K Mathur, held that the annual confidential reports (ACRs) were not written in an objective and unbiased manner by Lieutenant General Kishan Pal.
Noting that the report of a person who writes the ACRs in a biased manner could not be allowed to sustain, it observed that the then GOC was not favourably motivated towards Brigadier Singh and had attempted to tailor the report belittling his achievements.
Indian commander distorts Kargil war account: Probe