A Brigadier's promotion has been stalled by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) on a petition alleging that the officer was harassing a lieutenant-colonel by transferring him to a post to allegedly destroy his career.
Earlier this week, the AFT Kolkata branch passed an interim order, directing the ministry of defence not to take any decision on the promotion of Brigadier P.S. Rathore till the case is resolved.
Rathore is currently serving as deputy judge advocate general (DJAG), HQs south western Command, and was tipped to be the next judge advocate general (JAG) of the Indian Army. JAG is the legal and judicial chief of the army and the branch has legally qualified army officers extending all legal help to the military.
The AFT will resume hearing in February, 2012, on the petition filed by Lt-Colonel Mukul Dev.
A frustrated Dev moved an application to the AFT after a court of inquiry, constituted to decide on his arbitrary transfer and harassment case in 2009, failed to take any punitive action against Rathore, allegedly responsible for hampering the junior officer's career growth.
The brigadier was earlier indicted in the court of inquiry but got away without any punishment. In his application to the AFT, Dev alleged that the court of inquiry had been manipulated by senior officers and that his transfer was a calculated move to harm his career prospects and harass him.
The probe had found six officers "blameworthy" but only four officers were handed down punishments and two brigadiers - U.K. Chopra and Rathore - were let off.
Not satisfied with verdict, Dev filed a statutory complaint with the defence ministry in October, 2009. The ministry, in its proceeding notes, conceded that there has been a violation of the principle of law 'equity of justice'.
"Other officers have either been punished lightly or have been left untouched altogether," the MoD observed.
Earlier in 2008, Lt-Col Dev was transferred to the JAG branch as an assistant JAG but he allegedly became the victim of unfair treatment by senior officers. While he was on 'adequately exercise' (AE) - a tenure which would have enhanced his prospects for promotion, a transfer order was served by Chopra (P&A) of HQ central command forcing a legal professional to do an administrative job.
"I was on mandatory AE period and was surprised to receive such a letter. When I approached Rathore to seek a clarification in this regard, he expressed his ignorance about the matter and advised me proceed to a new appointment location and not to disobey or challenge the order of transfer," Dev said in his petition.
Major-General (Retd) Nilender Kumar, former judge advocate general of the Indian Army, said Dev's transfer was wrong. "It was non-utilisation of a professional and also hampered the career of the junior officer. Rathore acted on his own with the support of MS branch, central command. This was an improper action and calculated to harm the career of the officer," Kumar added.
Though court of inquiry found Chopra and Rathore blameworthy, no opinion was extended to punish any officer for the lapses. After the court of inquiry was abruptly closed, Dev was asked to rejoin the JAG branch in August 2009. He was served a showcause notice vide HQ Central Command.
