Hooda in dock for backing Army captain

India Today; New Delhi, February 19, 2011,

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singer Hooda is in the dock for writing to the then Chief of Army Staff Gen Deepak Kapoor asking for an Army officer to be given a foreign posting.

Headlines Today has in its possession, through an RTI enquiry, a letter showing how the chief minister tried to wrangle a prized posting.

The letter written by Hooda in January 2009 makes a strong recommendation for a captain posted in Hisar to be given a foreign posting in Bhutan.

This is for the first time that evidence has come forth of the political interference in Army transfers. The Haryana CM asked the then Army Chief to have the captain posted with the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan.

Hooda and the former Army Chief are school mates and are known to be close friends. The Army captain was at the time posted in 33 Division Ordnance Unit in Hisar in Haryana. The Indian Military Training Team assignment in Bhutan is a sensitive and prized posting for any officer.