Times of India: Chandigarh: Tuesday, 22 July 2014.
A
court of inquiry (CoI) that had led to an Army brigadier's dismissal without court
martial after the 1999 Kargil war for allegedly leaking classified documents
has turned out to be fictitious, according to information obtained under the
Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The
Army's 3-Infantary Division recently told Brig Surinder Singh that no such
inquiry was ever held in response to his RTI query days before the 15
anniversary of the Kargil war on July 26. "It has no information about any
CoI, as no such inquiry was ordered by this branch during the month September
1999," it said.
Singh
had asked for the name and designation of the officers who had convened the CoI
as well. In reply, the 3-Infantary Division said it did not have the
information because no such CoI was convened.
"The
RTI information has vindicated my stand that I had not leaked any classified
information," Singh said. "I will fight till my honour is
restored."
Singh
has now amended his petition before the Armed forces Tribunal, Chandigarh, and
told it he was dismissed on the basis of a fictitious inquiry while seeking to
have his dismissal set aside.
He
has been fighting a legal battle against his dismissal before the tribunal for
years. The brigadier's dismissal orders on May 29, 2001 had cited the findings
of 3-Infantary division's CoI convened in September 1999.
The
CoI was constituted "to investigate the circumstances under which
classified/confidential documents/records were retained and leaked contrary to
section 5 (1) (C) of the official secrets Act 1923 and guidelines contained in
Para 41, 46,58 and 84 of Pamphlet Handling of Classified Documents 1966".
A show cause notice issued on August 22, 2000 also referred to the September
1999 CoI.
Singh
was "held guilty" of retaining classified documents at his residence,
failure to surrender them on relinquishing the brigade's charge and making
their photocopies. He became the first officer to be fired without a court
martial after the Kargil war.
The
officer commanded the 121-Brigade during the Kargil war and was in charge of a
160-km stretch of the Line of Control with Pakistan in the Kargil sector when
the intrusions prior to the war took place. He had lost his hearing after a
shell had exploded near him.