Navy vs MoD: Mud flies thick amp; fast

New Delhi, Dec 16: Even as the Delhi High Court determined that, it is evident that comparative merit is neither the requirement nor per...

New Delhi, Dec 16: Even as the Delhi High Court determined that, it is evident that comparative merit is neither the requirement nor permissible,8217; on the question of the Government8217;s appointment of Lt Gen H R S Kalkat as the Eastern Army Commander, the three services are reeling under the sustained weight of intrigue, lobbying, redressals, courts and conspiracies.

While senior officers of the three services are in court, the Defence Secretary is to appear in one for criminal contempt, and no respite seems to be in sight with the Government yet to redress the situation.

The stand-off between the Ministry of Defence and the Navy Chief is creating ripples in political circles as well. Following the exclusive report in the The Indian Express on the Naval Headquarters8217; refusal to implement the Government order on the appointment of Vice Admiral Harinder Singh as the Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, the Congress today decided to send a delegation of senior leaders to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee todiscuss the issue.

Party president Sonia Gandhi asked leaders of the Opposition, Sharad Pawar Lok Sabha and Manmohan Singh Rajya Sabha, to meet the Prime minister in a day or two, party spokesman Ajit Jogi told reporters here.

Meanwhile, Naval Headquarters is sticking to its position that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet order cannot be implemented since it violates parliamentary provisions. And all this while intense lobbying is under way through various fora to settle the issue. As part of this lobbying The Indian Express was delivered transcripts of recorded telephone conversations.

The conversations were between Vice Admiral Harinder Singh and three senior Naval officers. While the tapes are not in the possession of this newspaper, the portion reproduced is taken verbatim from the transcripts delivered.

This pertains to Vice Admiral Harinder Singh8217;s holiday in Europe and hospitality received from representatives of weapons dealers. As highlighted last week in this newspaper,Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat had made observations in the Vice Admiral8217;s confidential report. The MoD had later expunged the observations following the filing of a redressal of grievances by Vice Admiral Singh. On the Air Force side, the story is as murky with Delhi HC taking note of misrepresentation of facts to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet by Defence Secretary Ajit Kumar. This was in the matter of Air Vice Marshal P K Ghosh, denied promotion by the MoD through, as the court observed on June 1, only one-sided picture was placed before the ACC.8217;

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A Delhi HC notice has been served on Ajit Kumar, J K Dadoo, a Director in MoD and Shyam Kapoor, an Under Secretary, to appear in before the judges on January 21, 1999. The Delhi HC order of Dec 1 declares, 8220;Facts, as disclosed in the petition, do call for an action to be taken against the respondents under Contempt of Courts Act.8221;