With the Armed Forces Tribunal indicting a top officer for falsifying Kargil war reports and showing bias towards a brigadier, the army said it will take action on the issue after analysing the verdict.
The Armed Forces Tribunal on Wednesday granted a six-week extension to the Army to complete "all the process" in the Sukna land scam case, a week after the two-month deadline given by it lapsed. The Tribunal also allowed former Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, against whom a Court of Inquiry (COI) in the case was recently completed at the Eastern Army Command, to leave Kolkata.
The Armed Forces Tribunal on Wednesday refused to grant interim relief to Lt Gen P K Rath seeking a stay on the summary of evidence proceedings against him in the Rs 300 crore Sukna land scam case.
Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, who is facing a court martial in connection with the Sukna land scam, has alleged that Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor had not applied his mind before changing his decision to initiate proceedings against him. He also said the fresh court of inquiry ordered by the Armed Forces Tribunal would help bring out new facts and clear his role in the entire case.
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 Armed Forces Tribunal has given a go-ahead for court martial against a former Major General who was allegedly caught on-camera taking bribe in the 2001 Tehelka sting operation and pulled up the Army for delaying the matter for so long.
'We should hope and pray that the PM's sentiment is not held ransom by machinations and craftiness of a few junior babus who throw in an imaginary impediment at every welfare measure and snigger and giggle at the sidelines every time a soldier is ill at ease,' says Major Navdeep Singh on the one rank one pension debate.
"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.
20 defence ministry reforms 'is a reflection of the resolve of the government to make the defence sector stronger and more efficient.'
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.
An armed forces tribunal has ordered payment of Rs 10 lakh compensation to the widow of a jawan, who died of injuries suffered during a loo break, ruling that a soldier going to toilet while on work was very much on duty.
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.
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 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.
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.
The government on Wednesday asserted that the appointment of Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army Chief is final as the Congress raked up a controversy involving minister and former Army chief Gen V K Singh and demanded his resignation.
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.
Sonowal said the judgement is a reflection of India's democratic values where human rights and fairness are respected.
After the defence ministry termed as "illegal" his decision to put a ban on promotion of Army Chief designate Dalbir Suhag, Gen (retd)V K Singh, now a Union minister, justified his action on Tuesday.
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.'
A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice Kurian Joseph "partly allowed" the appeals of the Ministry of Defence against the March 2015 order of Armed Forces Tribunal which had quashed the Centre's 2009 'command exit promotion' policy on the ground that it violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.
Instead of ramming through change, Mr Parrikar has tied his own hands by placing reform at the mercy of numerous committees, says Ajai Shukla.
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.
'This is India, bhai. This kind of country does not exist anywhere in the world.'
'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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances