Lt Gen Prepared Biased Report, Downplayed Kargil Officer’s Performance

A former Lieutenant General has been indicted by the Armed Forces Tribunal for showing bias towards a Brigadier and downplaying his achievements and falsifying accounts of battles, said media reports.

In an observation embarrassing to the Army, the tribunal instructed that Brigadier (Retd) Devinder Singh should be considered for a notional promotion, reports said.

The matter came to fore when Singh moved a plea in the Delhi High Court complaining of wrong depiction of his battle performance, said reports.

Singh had led 70 Infantry Brigade in the Batalik sector in the Kargil war. Many complaints identical to Singh’s are pending before the Tribunal.

The report of Lt Gen Kishan Pal, then General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, who oversaw operations in that sector, not only cost Singh a war medal but also deprived the Brigadier of promotion as Major-General.

“I feel vindicated,” Singh was quoted as saying after the Tribunal’s directives.

“One has gone through a number of stages of non-statutory complaints, statutory complaints, legal notices and several writ petitions…Finally the order has seen the light of the day,” he was quoted as saying.

The Tribunal has asked the Army to consider Singh for promotion to the notional rank of major general and to put the relevant records and documents pertaining to operations by his formation in Batalik sector written by him to be corrected and put in the right perspective, reports said.

The Tribunal led by Justice AK Mathur held, “The annual confidential reports (ACRs) were not written in an objective and unbiased manner by Lt Gen Pal.”

(Based on internet reports)