Admiral Harinder gets DCNS post

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6: Constrained by legal advice, Naval Headquarters has finally been moved to appoint controversial Vice Admiral Harinder...

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6: Constrained by legal advice, Naval Headquarters has finally been moved to appoint controversial Vice Admiral Harinder Singh as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff DCNS. He takes over, curiously enough, on March 15, thus bringing to an end months of recriminations and wranglings within the Navy as well as between the service and the Ministry of Defence MoD over his candidature and suitability for the appointment.

The appointment of Vice Admiral Singh, currently posted as Fortress Commander Andamans and Nicobar, was cleared by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet ACC for the post of DCNS on December 9. But then Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat refused to implement the order citing provisions of the Navy Act and regulations which say that the appointments should be made on the recommendations of the Navy Chief.

Admiral Bhagwat was dismissed on December 30 for undermining civilian supremacy but the implementation of the ACC order was kept pending on account of opposition within the Navy.

Whilethe top brass of the Navy were confronted with a crisis over implementing the ACC order, on account of allegations of communal and partisan interests made by the Vice Admiral against the former Chief, the MoD8217;s options were considerably narrowed by legal advice.

The senior leadership of the Navy opposed the implementation of the order, declaring that the language used by the Vice Admiral against the then Naval Chief in the Redressal of Grievance was violative of service ethos and liable to set a precedent in the service.

8220;Some of the senior officers were of the opinion that the language was violative of the sanctity of the service chain of command. Once it is accepted there will be more officers using the same route to press their perceived grievances,8221; said a Naval officer. The opposition from within the Navy to appointing Vice Admiral Harinder Singh forced the MoD to consult a senior legal luminary. 8220;After dismissing Admiral Bhagwat for not implementing the ACC order, the informed legal advice wasthat any further withholding of the order would tantamount to continued violation of law. And not implementing the order would set in motion more legal cases,8221; said an MoD source.

The current incumbent as DCNS, Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh, is set to take over as DG, Defence Planning Staff, a tri-service think tank. And the next Andamans commander will be Vice Admiral Raman Puri, presently serving as Director General, Project Seabird, the future naval base at Karwar, Karnataka.