Charges quashed,but commendation came when case was still pending

Dhayalan had got the commendation certificate from Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command that his duties as the Defence Estate Officer,Mumbai circle,Colaba,were commendable. In the commendation letter he has been praised “for utmost dedication,commitment and professional competence of very high order.”

Dhayalan got the letter nearly eight years after he was issued a chargesheet by Defence Ministry for “wrongfully awarding service charges to panchayats”. He said the chargesheet was filed against him due to “politics within the Defence Ministry”. “I approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in 2010 and they have quashed the chargesheet. The chargesheet was made on the ground that panchayats are not local bodies. The money involved was not more than Rs 30 lakh,” he said.

Speaking about Koshy’s transfer,Dhayalan and some PCB members said she had sought a transfer after her mother’s death in September.

Dhayalan said he was told by the Director General Defence Estate (DE),Balsharan Singh,who issued her order that she has been seeking transfer “due to family problems”. Koshy is a 1990-batch IDES officer.

PCB members said Koshy had asked the DGDE for a transfer last month during his visit to the cantonment board. “Her mother died in September and she had sought the transfer,” confirmed PCB elected member Aarti Mahajan.

However,PCB vice-president Sangeeta Pawar said she had complained to the PCB president that during Koshy’s tenure,the cantonment general body meetings were not held on time. “The meetings were not even held for two months and this was brought to the notice of the PCB president,” she said.

Balsharan Singh said he was not in a position to comment on the issue as he has retired a few days back. Koshy refused to comment.