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Defence Notes

	September 22, 2008

Pay panel imbroglio: Antony supports non-officer cadre



In what is seen as a setback to the cause of armed forces officers fretting over being short changed by the pay panel's recommendations, Defence Minister A.K. Antony has written the Finance Ministry to examine a major grouse of personnel below officer rank (PBOR).



Hitherto, PBORs had been drawing pension in proportion to their years of service. However, the Sixth Pay Commission has recommended that their pension would be half of the last pay drawn.



"Antony has written a letter to the Finance Ministry strongly recommending that PBORs be granted pension in proportion to the number of years they have served," a Defence Ministry official said on Friday.



Antony wrote the letter last week.



The pension demand is one of the core issues raised by the armed forces in relation to the pay panel report. However, since Antony's letter only speaks about PBORs, this is an indication that the other issues pertaining to the officer cadre has been put on the back burner.





Case against Army officer for killing surrendered militant



The Jammu and Kashmir police have registered a case against an Indian Army officer and some soldiers for allegedly killing a surrendered militant in a fake gunfight.



Aslam Malik, a former militant of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed last month in a shootout in Gandoh village of mountainous Doda district.



But Malik's relatives alleged that he was shot dead by soldiers of 26 RR because they were angry as "he had surrendered before the police and not before the army".



Abdul Rehman and Irshad Ahmad, relatives of Malik, told newspapers in Jammu that the deceased had surrendered before the police about nine months ago. They said militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen kidnapped Malik about two months ago but was freed after intervention of some locals.







Former Army officer guilty of stealing goats, sheep: Court



He was deployed to guard the border against any threat, but an Army major ended up stealing goats and sheep of villagers. The Delhi High Court on Sept. 18 found the charges against him just and disposed of his appeal challenging the sentence by an army court.





A division bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.C. Garg rejected former Major Manjeet Singh Ahluwalia's plea to restore his service and dismissed his petition challenging the sentence of "cashiering" (removal from service) awarded by the General Court Martial (GCM) 26 years ago.



The bench accepted the submission made by Jyoti Singh, counsel for the Indian Army, that the GCM was conducted in accordance with law and there was no violation of army rules at any stage.



The case dates back to Oct 1983, when Ahluwalia was court-martialled following a complaint from the Rajasthan police that the Major, who was posted in Ramsar, in Barmer district and commanding officer of 116 Medium Regiment, had stolen several goats and sheep belonging to the villagers in 1982.



The officer was also sentenced to undergo two years imprisonment for the offence committed under the Army Act. After confirmation of the sentence by the Secretary, Ministry of Defence, in 1985, the Chief of Army Staff had deducted 50 percent of his pay and allowances as a part of the punishment.



In a writ petition filed on Jan 9, 1986, the former Major asked the court to set aside the October 1983 order passed by the GCM and also sought a direction to restore his job besides release of pay deducted at the time of his dismissal.