Misinter pretation brought advantage to bureaucracy

While he hit out at both the bureaucracy and Admiral Bhagwat as guilty, Lt Gen Pandit held Defence Minister George Fernandes in high esteem, saying that the latter’s intentions could not be doubted.

“The crisis has been brewing for the last 12 months. The Government should have foreseen and preempted the escalation. Although Admiral Bhagwat should have had a say in matter of postings, I firmly believe that this is the Government’s prerogative”.

“The Admiral cannot say that he cannot carry out the ACC’s order. It would have been more proper for him to go to the Government and state that he could not carry out the order for these reasons. That would have served the purpose but he went public which was his fault. At that stage, the Government has to react,” he said.

“It is sad that dirty linen was washed in public and surely Niloufer Bhagwat is not doing his case any good. Bhagwat could seek legal redress butgoing public was not the answer”.

Lt Gen Pandit, who has been Adjutant General in Army Headquarters, has seen administrative functioning from close quarters. He maintained that in principle the supremacy of the civil authority over the armed forces cannot be questioned. “But this has been misinterpreted over a period of time to convey an impression that bureaucracy holds the upper hand. For every appointment in the Defence services, there are equal number of appointments in the headquarters. Why”?

“While we cannot do away with the Ministry of Defence, the interference in running the Services can be reduced and the participation of the Services can be increased,” Lt Gen Pandit said.