Colonel Hunny Bakshi, former Commanding Officer of Technical Support Division (TSD), a Military Intelligence unit set up in 2010 when General V K Singh was the Chief of Army Staff, retired from service on Tuesday after opting for premature retirement. Colonel Bakshi had earlier been sought to be tried by the Army through a General Court Martial on charges of mishandling classified information among other charges. However, when his trial convened in Ambala after a prolonged pre-trial investigation process, all charges against him were dropped when the court accepted his plea in bar. The functioning of TSD had come under a cloud after allegations of impropriety, and it was disbanded after the retirement of General Singh. Colonel Bakshi had protested in the court martial saying that he was not provided documents to establish his defence and lead evidence. He had also said that he was not being given adequate opportunity to cross-examine witnesses. “Principles of natural justice, as envisioned in Army Rule 180, were not complied with during the COI,” his counsel had contended. The trial had been convened on two charges under Section 69 of the Army Act read with Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 63 of the Army Act. It was alleged that Colonel Bakshi, while being in control of sensitive information that could affect security of the state, failed to take reasonable care to safeguard it, resulting in its disclosure by an NCO of the unit, Havildar Sham Das, to unauthorised persons.
