Will probe if Praveen Bakshi complains of conspiracy, says Army chief Bipin Rawat

NEW DELHI: Army chief General Bipin Rawat said prompt action would be taken if Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi, who cut short his prolonged leave on Friday to resume duties as the Eastern Army Command (EAC) chief, formally complained of the alleged conspiracy to defame him over the last few months.

"If General Bakshi has any grievance, or if there is anything that needs to be investigated, and it is formally brought to my notice, we will look into it," Rawat, who superseded Bakshi, said.

"We have both reached out to each other since I was appointed chief. All that he has told me is that he accepts the government's decision and will support the organisation... He has been supportive of me and I will be supportive of him," Rawat added. In an address to officers in the EAC on December 31, Bakshi had said he was not re signing so that he could fight the "smear campaign" that had been launched to malign his image in the run-up to the Army chief's selection by the government, as was then first reported by TOI.

A couple of anonymous letters, alleging irregularities in the use of the EAC chief's emergency financial powers, were sent to the authorities, including defence minister Manohar Parrikar, but inquires by the controller general of defence accounts did not find any substance in the allegations.

In his address, however, Bakshi talked about a "deep-rooted conspiracy" carried out by "men in the shadows" to derail his candidature for the top Army post. "I don't think we in the Indian Army who have been trained to fight our enemies can allow such people to survive in our own organization...they need to be exposed," he said.

Acknowledging that he had spent Rs 85 crore on procurements over the last 18 months under special financial powers while his predecessors in the EAC, like V K Singh, Bikram Singh and Dalbir Singh Suhag, had averaged just about Rs 3-4 crores, Bakshi said he had "no skeletons in my cupboard" to hide.

Bakshi had gone on a month's leave till January 29, which is highly unusual for an Army commander, but has now rejoined because the war games of the 33 Corps under him are kicking off from Saturday.