New Delhi: A Major, who was dismissed for
military indiscipline during the Kargil war failed to
get any reprieve from the Armed Forces Tribunal, which
dismissed his petition challenging his court martial.
Rejecting the plea filed by Major Manish Bhatnagar, Tribunal Bench headed by Justice S S Kulshreshtha said, "We don't find any merit in the plea and it is dismissed."
The officer had filed the plea against his General
Court Martial (GCM), which had recommended his expulsion from
Army on charges of improperly stating to his superiors about
the poor physical condition of his troops during the war and
violating 'good order and military discipline'.
During the GCM, it was first alleged that Bhatnagar
had refused to attack the peak Point 5203 on orders of the
then 70 Brigade Commander Brigadier Devinder Singh by telling
him that after a long walk and climb down from Siachen
glacier, his troops were unfit for any attack missions.
The officer was acquitted of the first charged after
Brig Devinder himself deposed before the GCM and said that he
had only briefed the officer about the plan to attack and no
orders for assaulting the peak were issued.
After Brig Singh's statement, the officer was tried
for the other charge and was dismissed from service.
Bhatnagar had contended that he was asked by his
Commanding Officer Colonel A K Srivastava to climb down from
Siachen glacier and report to the Batalik-based 70 Infantry
Brigade along with four junior officers and 80 men from the 5
Parachute Regiment.
The officer told the Tribunal that he had apprised the
superior officer about the condition of his troops as he was
under obligation to do so because the Brigadier was looking
for fit and highly-motivated troops for attacking the peak
occupied by Pakistan Army regulars.
PTI
First Published: Monday, September 20, 2010, 20:45