The Supreme Court has stayed an order of the Armed Forces Tribunal demoting a lieutenant General to the rank of Brigadier and imposing a cost of Rs 50 lakh on the Centre and Chief of Army Staff for glossing over his “defective” confidential report to grant two successive promotions at the level of Brigadier and Major General.
The order came on an appeal filed by the Centre challenging the May 13 order passed by the lucknow Bench of the Tribunal. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi sought a stay of the judgment as the order had created chaos in the armed force. “What kind of Army will be run if lieutenant General is to be made Brigadier in a day by a court order… This order has to go,” he contended.
Putting officer NK Mehta back to his position as lieutenant General, the Vacation Bench of Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy stayed the Tribunal order. Mehta is currently the seniormost officer in the Army Ordinance Corps and owing to his seniority will head the Ordinance Wing of the Army which is engaged with signing high-profile Defence purchases.
The court also protected the interest of the rival officer Major General RS Rathore, who has challenged Mehta’s promotion pointing to his defective ACR during the period July 1, 2009 to June 22, 2010, in which two columns were left blank by Mehta. Both Rathore and Mehta belong to the 1979 batch. Rathore is due to retire on Tuesday and had filed the case against Mehta before the AFT alleging that if the defective ACR is taken into account, it will add up to lesser points while selecting him as Brigadier and his subsequent promotion to lieutenant General.
The Bench said that the question whether defective ACR will impact promotion from Major General to lieutenant General has to be seen. But the A-G submitted that the issue concerns the fight between two officers vying for the post of lieutenant General. Rathore is to retire on Tuesday and there is no way he can attain the post. It was pointed out that Selection Board did not clear Rathore due to a pending disciplinary proceeding against him. As regards Mehta, the A-G said that the AFT had empanelled Mehta for promotion as Major General asking the Centre to overlook the fault in the ACR.
He further added that the Tribunal order was “grossly perverse” as it proceeded on the basis that Chief of Army Staff approves selection as Ordinance chief. On the contrary, Rohatgi said it is the Special Selection Board that makes recommendation which is finally approved by the Cabinet Committee on Appointments. It was on this basis that the Tribunal imposed Rs 50 lakh cost on Centre, Chief of Army Staff and Military Secretary. The court stayed this direction and even stayed all comments or observations made against the Centre by Tribunal as it had pointed to connivance of Defence Ministry officials to facilitate Mehta’s elevation as head of the Ordinance Purchase Wing.
