Army inquiry lets 2 batallions off hook, indicts officials

“The Army is studying the recommendations and will take action against the officials found wanting only after taking legal advice and studying the recommendations of the Subrahmanyam Committee report,” sources in the Army headquarters said.

Three battalions held the 150-km-long area of intrusions in Kargil: The 3 Punjab in Batalik, 4 Jat in Kaksar and 16 Grenadiers in Drass, apart from the Garhwal Rifles unit, which was in Kargil. The Army’s internal inquiry, which worked independent of the Subrahmanyam Committee, accepted the logic put forward by the Punjab and Jat Battalion soldiers that Pakistani troops occupied the non-fortified gaps — some as big as 25 km — in their territory.

However, the same did not hold true for the Grenadiers, the sources said. “In Drass (held by Colonel Oberai’s 16 Grenadiers), the Pakistani troops came and occupied features well inside the Indian territory, some of which were even patrolled by the Indian Army,” they added. The committee has also found fault with the then commander of the Kargil brigade, Brigadier Surinder Singh’s handling of the situation.

“Action has been recommended against him not for the intrusion but for failing to counter it,” an officer said. As commander of the Brigade, his battalions lost faith in him. The Army’s stand is in stark contrast to Brigadier Singh’s alleged statements that he had warned the top brass of intrusions in advance and his warnings had gone unheeded.

“Action would also be taken against him for the subsequent media tamasha which almost amounts to negating the sacrifices of the soldiers killed in the war if the third inquiry especially looking into his papers finds him guilty,” the sources added.

Major General Budhwar was also found wanting by the committee but his role, the sources said, “was not as direct as Brigadier Singh’s. That does not mean he would be let off the hook.”

The officers in the Army Headquarters are consulting the legal cell to prevent further embarrassment in courts of law. “We have not been pinned down or anything but there is this unfortunate trend of officers who have been punished running off to courts. We do not want to create another such situation,” he added.

The committee has also recommended the beefing up of forces along the Line of Control. “Better surveillance equipment, radars, artillery and infantry equipment form a part of our wish list to prevent a Kargil-type situation,” an officer said.