Tribunal no to Army plea on Kargil records

In a blow to the Army,the Armed Forces Tribunal on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to review an earlier order of May,where it had asked for correction of certain Kargil records.

The Tribunal headed by chairperson Justice A K Mathur,acting on a plea from Davinder Singh,then 70 Infantry Brigade Commander,had asked the Army to expunge his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) written by his superior Lt Gen Kishan Pal.

In the order passed on May 27,the Tribunal had also asked the Army to correct certain records of 1999 Kargil conflict.

However on Tuesday,it refused to review the said order for correction of 1999 Kargil war records which did not reflect the actual role played by the then Brigade Commander Singh.

Taking a serious view of the review petition,Chairperson Justice Mathur said the Army should be thankful as the previous verdict could have been worse as decorations of Lt Gen Kishan Pal could have also been withdrawn.

In its order then,the Tribunal had asked the Army to expunge Singhs Annual Confidential Report (ACR) written by Lt Gen Pal and directed it to correct certain records of the Kargil conflict.

Singh had moved the Delhi High Court in 2006,complaining that his role as leader of the 70 Infantry Brigade in the Batalik Sector had been underplayed and this had cost him a war medal and promotions.

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Agreeing with his contentions,the Tribunal had noted how his contribution had been incorrectly represented by Lt Gen Kishan Pal and held that the Annual Confidential Reports were not written in an objective and unbiased manner.

In view of the adverse Annual Confidential Report by Lt Gen Pal,Brigadier Singh could not be promoted to the rank of Major General,it was told.

Among the records which the Tribunal had wanted to be corrected was a paragraph in the After Action Report of the war and two other paragraphs of the Kargil war account.

After the Army filed the review petition,Singh had also filed a plea seeking changes in the Kargil Review Committee report to absolve him and his unit of the blame for intrusion by Pakistani Army into Indian territory before the war started.