In an unprecedented action, an Army Court of Inquiry has recommended Court Martial proceedings against 168 personnel including the Commanding Officer of the artillery unit whose officers and jawans came to blows in Nyoma, leh in May last year.
The Court of Inquiry headed by Brigadier Ajay Talwar examined more than 215 witnesses and submitted a 2,000-page report recommending disciplinary action against four officers, 17 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and 147 jawans.
The Commanding Officer will face action for command and control failure.Disclosing this here officials said the Court of Inquiry indicted these personnel for various charges including arson and assault.
Three officers, including the Commanding Officer and eight jawans of the 226 Field Regiment. were injured in the face off at Mahe firing range near Nyoma on May 10.
The Army ordered the Court of Inquiry the next day in which five officers, 21 JCOs and 189 jawans were examined.
The face-off was triggered when an officer reportedly roughed up a jawan on the suspicion that he had misbehaved with the officer’s wife. Incidentally, the officers had taken their wives to the field exercise without authorisation.
learning about the assault other jawans protested and the Commanding Officer, who was away at the time of the incident, rushed to the spot and reportedly pulled up the officers for their behaviour.
Angered by the reprimand, the officers assaulted the Commanding Officer. This enraged the jawans who beat up the officers.
Elaborating upon the procedure to be followed after the Court of Inquiry report, officials said as per the Army Act, indicted personnel have to go through the process of Summary of Evidence. If the Summary of Evidence confirms the punishment recommended by the Court of Inquiry, personnel will then face court martial, they said.
In a similar face off, that was triggered off by a jawan’s suicide in Samba near Jammu last year, the Court of Inquiry recommended action against 60 personnel.
Another incident was reported from Gurdaspur where officers and jawans clashed at a sport ground during a physical training session.