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The court of inquiry, headed by Lt Gen S K Jain, during the course of its proceedings interrogated Maj Gen P S K Chaudhary, Additional Director General (Weapons and Equipment), Maj Gen Manjit Singh Ahluwalia, Maj Gen Satnam Singh, Brig Iqbal Singh and Col Anil Sehgal and found instances of misconduct in their inter-action with 'arms dealers'.
However, since the court of inquiry is a fact-finding exercise it cannot recommend punishment, which can only given after a long drawn process by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command Lt Gen Surjit Singh Sangra, who was the convening authority of the COI.
All officers at the army headquarters below the rank of brigadier are under the GOC, Delhi area, which is in the jurisdiction of the Western Command. Officers above that rank come directly under the Western Commmand GOC-in-C.
An army spokesman said any action against the officers could take six months since summary of evidence will have to be taken and the Judge Advocate General branch consulted if court martial proceedings are to be carried out. During summary of evidence, the accused will get a chance to cross-examine the witnesses.
A court martial can award any punishment including rigorous punishment or even death sentence.
Even after recording of summary of evidence the convening authority can recommend administrative action. This could range from a minimum punishment of the formation commander (GOC-in-C) serving a 'displeasure' or 'severe displeasure' which is recordable or non-recordable.
Under Article 19 of the Army Act, sanction for termination of service of the officers could be asked from the central government after they are served a show-cause notice or under Article 18, where no show-cause notice is required and the President terminates their service.
While Chaudhary has admitted to taking money from the 'arms dealers', other officers were caught on camera discussing how the deal for the purchase of an imaginary thermal camera for the army could be taken through.
Jain was assisted in the inquiry by Maj Gen Mohinder Puri and Maj Gen M Mathew. The court of inquiry began its work in the third week of March after the website went public with its sensational tapes on March 13.
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