Defence ministry, Army fined Rs 50 lakh for wrongful promotion

NEW DELHI: In what could be the biggest indictment of the selection process, an armed forces tribunal has imposed a Rs 50 lakh fine on the Army and Defence ministry, holding that the continued promotion of a Brigadier rank officer was against the procedure. It has also said that such incidents lead to bribery in defence deals.

In a strongly-worded judgement, the Lucknow bench of the tribunal has said that the officer in question should pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh and the government should inquire into which officials helped his cause, besides depositing Rs 50 lakh as a fine that would be used for welfare of soldiers. “Needless to say that it is such type of incidents and lack of probity in the system which paves way for sleeper cells of the foreign countries to be activated to enter and manage the defence purchases and derive benefits of kickbacks,” the tribunal order reads. The issue concerns an officer of the Army Ordnance Corps — Lt Gen NK Mehta – who has now been effectively reduced to the rank of Brigadier by the tribunal.