Bhagwat to file amended petition against Fernandes

NEW DELHI, JULY 21: Sacked Naval chief Vishnu Bhagwat today sought four weeks time from the Supreme Court to file an amended petition chal...

NEW DELHI, JULY 21: Sacked Naval chief Vishnu Bhagwat today sought four weeks time from the Supreme Court to file an amended petition challenging the Government’s decision to dismiss him from service, and the punitive measure to strip him of the title of Admiral.

A bench comprising Justice B.N. Kirpal and Justice D.P. Mohapatra, after recording the submission of Bhagwat’s counsel, allowed him to amend his petition by deleting all allegations.

Bhagwat’s counsel assured that he would delete all allegations made in the petition against the Centre and Defence Minister George Fernandes and confine it to a single point — whether the “pleasure principle” adopted in the dismissal of the admiral could cast aspersions on him without giving him a chance to defend himself.

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Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee took strong exception to the allegations made in the special leave petition and also the six months delay in its filing to challenge the dismissal of a similar petition by the Bombay High Court. “The question is simple. Whether a person removed from service in December could wait till July to file an appeal?” Sorabjee asked.

The bench also wondered at the court’s role in this issue but allowed four weeks time to the petitioner to amend the petition.