New Delhi: A senior Navy officer has been
sacked for having sexual relations with a Russian woman in
Moscow as head of the Indian team overseeing the refit of
aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov there.
Commodore Sukhjinder Singh was posted in Moscow
between 2005 to 2007 as the Indian warship production
superintendent to oversee Gorshkov`s refit when he developed
the illicit relationship with the woman.
"He (Singh) will be discharged. He will not be in
service now," Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters today
when asked about the progress in the case.
Singh, who has at least two years of service left,
will have to immediately pack his bags.
Singh`s affair was exposed in April 2010, three years
after his posting in Russia when his explicit pictures with
the woman were brought to the notice of the Defence Ministry.
Soon after receiving the pictures, the Navy had
ordered a Court Of Inquiry against him to establish his
relations with the woman and whether the relationship had
affected the Admiral Gorshkov deal in any way.
The CoI had established Singh`s relations with the
woman but maintained that his "loose moral conduct" had not
"adversely impacted" India`s position during the long-drawn
wrangling with Russia over the 44,570-tonne carrier`s refit.
After completing its inquiry, the Navy had sent the
file to the Defence Ministry for further action.
Even after returning from Russia, Singh had continued
to be associated with the Gorshkov programme as the principal
director (aircraft carrier project) in New Delhi till
mid-2009.
He was later relieved of his posting in the defence
ministry`s directorate-general of quality assurance.
After repeated Russian demands for higher prices for
retrofitting the aircraft carrier, the two sides last year
finally settled on USD 2.33 billion as the cost of the
warship.
PTI
