"There is a cover-up going on and we have to find out who is at the bottom of this," Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising said about the land scam case in which Prakash and three other Generals have been indicted by a Court of Inquiry for giving a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to a private realtor to construct an educational institute on a plot of land adjacent to Sukna army base in Darjeeling.
In his fresh petition, Verma said he had filed a statutory complaint with the defence ministry, challenging appointment of Vice Admiral Singh as the next navy chief, and asked it to respond within 10 days.
It further said that he cannot live merely on 'past glory' as the trust has been reposed in him for defending the country.
As Navy chief, Admiral Singh's immediate priority will be to expedite the long-delayed modernisation of the Indian Navy, including by inducting new warships, submarines and aircraft.
The Supreme Court has slammed the Centre for "insulting" soldiers who fought the Kargil war in 1999 and blaming them for being "sluggish" in their initial response to Pakistani incursions.
Vice Admiral Singh is scheduled to take charge as the new Navy chief from incumbent Admiral Sunil Lanba, who is set to demit office on May 31.
The Defence Minister said it has been decided to give women permanent commission in the Army, Navy and the Air Force like their male counterparts.
The bench said denying permanent commission to women officers who have served the nation would result in serious miscarriage of justice.
However, the government rejected the army's demand to implement the scheme with retrospective effect from June last year, when the Doklam face-off between Indian and Chinese armies had begun, official sources said.
Gurbax Singh Dhindsa, father of Kargil war martyr GS Dhindsa, in a letter to the PM and defence minister underlining the fact that military personnel have little recourse to justice in higher courts.
The Centre held that seniority is not the sole criterion for selection.
Former army commander P K Rath, who was given a clean chit by Armed Forces Tribunal in the Sukna land scam, on Saturday said that the verdict had vindicated his stand while ex-army chief V K Singh demanded that the government should go for appeal against the military panel's judgement.
Sonowal said the judgement is a reflection of India's democratic values where human rights and fairness are respected.
Virtually indicting former Army chief and Union Minister Gen V K Singh, the Armed Forces Tribunal on Friday quashed the court martial of Lt Gen P K Rath who was punished for his alleged role in a land dealing in West Bengal.
The agonising wait for justice notwithstanding, the former navy captain soldiered on, doing low-paying jobs for Rs 20,000 a month and even ploughing farms owned by others to sustain his family. He has lost many jobs because of his past.
In a permanent commission, women officers get an opportunity to rise to the rank of Lieutenant General and retire at 60 with full benefits like the men do. Sources say it is given to women on a case-to-case basis.
The Armed Forces Tribunal has pulled up Gen V K Singh for "showing favour" and "without jurisdiction" reviewing a central government order to promote a Brigadier belonging to his unit to the rank of Major General in October 2011 when he was the Army chief.
'The government must make clear once and for all that promotions in the Indian Army are not the right of individuals, but a privilege given in accordance with role and function.'
On the eve of Army Day, Army Chief General Bikram Singh says he will raise this issue with the Rajya Raksha Mantri, Jitendra Singh, who oversees the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, reports Ajai Shukla.
A soldier cannot justifiably demand faster, easier promotions based on frequent field tenures
'The defence minister is stuck in the trivial and frivolous with a clerical mindset merely to prove his so-called 'honesty" overlooking the primary aim of adding sufficient military muscle and firepower to the defence services,' says Bharat Verma.
'The government has belied the hope that many harboured of change, efficiency and dismantling old practices as the defence ministry continues to pursue the same well trodden and wasteful path.'
"They call me the Class 10 vice-chancellor," he says as his thin lips flirt with a smile. You almost feel that the tall man of spare build is being facetious. And then you see that his deep set eyes are not twinkling. There is a sense of the combative in them.
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