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AWOL

SC judgement

The Times of India, October 29, 2015

He who goes AWOL can't be good soldier

A rmy personnel who go on unauthorised leave can never be A good soldiers and there is nothing wrong in discharging such persons from force without issuing show cause notice, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. A bench of Justices A R Dave and A K Goel upheld the government decision to discharge army man Manoj Deswal who went on leave without taking permission from his commanding officer. The SC said no special notice is required to be given before discharge of a person if he is accused of such indiscipline.

Chiefs of staff of Army, IAF, Navy

Dismissal of Adm Bhagwat, impatience with Gen V K Singh

The Times of India, Mar 29, 2012

Is Admiral Bhagwat saga playing out again?

On December 30, 1998, shortly after midday a special aircraft arrived at the naval base in Kochi, and almost around the same time the then defence minister George Fernandes was on line with vice admiral Sushil Kumar, the then commander-in-chief of Southern Naval Command. Fernandes asked Kumar to collect a letter carried by the pilot and report to Delhi by 6pm the same day. “The President is pleased to promote you to the rank of admiral and appoint you in command of the Indian Navy as chief of the Naval Staff, with effect from PM 30 December, 1998,’’ it said. Almost simultaneously, the then Navy Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat was served another order: “The President has withdrawn his pleasure for your continuation in the Indian Navy for lack of confidence in you as the chief of the Naval Staff, with effect from PM 30 December, 1998.” It drew the curtains on a tumultuous standoff between Admiral Bhagwat and the defence ministry that was going on for several weeks. For many veterans and serving officers, the present developments surrounding Army chief Gen V K Singh have brought back memories of that unique event in Independent India: the sacking of a military chief.

The developments over past few days have painted the government into a corner over how to deal with the Army chief, who first dragged the government to the Supreme Court over the age issue, and now has repeatedly embarrassed the government over bribery claims and by leaking his letter to the PM. The Rajya Sabha in 2012 witnessed an unusual political consensus, and concern about the leak of the detailed letter written by General Singh to the PM expressing concern about the Army’s preparedness. While there are several parallels between 1998 and now, there is something else that stands out in case of General Singh.

Defence minister A K Antony received overwhelming support from political parties for any possible action to be taken against the Army chief. Some opposition members took care to tell the ruling front MPs that they wouldn’t be doing what the Congress and Left did to them when Admiral Bhagwat was sacked. In 1999, when the BJP-led NDA government sacked Bhagwat, Congress and Left parties had opposed the sacking. The sacking of Bhagwat came about after weeks of standoff between the two sides senior level postings, but soon spread to operational matters and even strategic outlook. The MoD had launched scathing and repeated attacks on Bhagwat, who retaliated in his inimitable way. However, the government soon ran out of patience, and sacked the Admiral, and made history.

Dismissal from service

Act of cowardice

Dhananjay Mahapatra, SC grants pension to 8 faujis sacked for cowardice , March 2, 2017: The Times of India

The Supreme Court has granted pension to eight soldiers who were dismissed by the Army for an act of cowardice during a militant attack in 2003 on an EME battalion in Akhnoor of Jammu & Kashmir.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar partly allowed the Union government's appeal against the decision of Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), which had ordered their reinstatement with full back wages. The SC granted them only pension benefits and refused back wages.

Nine soldiers were on guard duty in Akhnoor on July 22, 2003, when terrorists struck at around 5.50 am and attempted to move towards the quarter guard area where arms and ammunition were stored.

The nine soldiers who formed the rear guard failed to take action to neutralise the terrorists. During a Court of Inquiry , it was found that most of these nine soldiers had returned almost the entire ammunition allotted to them (one of them returned 37 rounds of the 40 rounds of ammunition allowed to him). The CoI found the soldiers blameworthy of displaying cowardice, failing to take effective steps to counter the threat and failing to neutralise the terrorists despite being armed.

Challenging the AFT decision, additional solicitor general Maninder Singh argued that there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that these soldiers displayed cowardice. The bench agreed with Sing but decided to take a lenient view since seven of the eight dismissed soldiers had reached the age of superannuation.



Disability pension for schizophrenia

AmitAnand Choudhary, Cannot Deny Disability Pension: Court, Feb 24, 2017: The Times of India

SC relief for family of schizophrenic ex-soldier

The Supreme Court has come to the rescue of the family of an ex-Armyman who was discharged from service for suffering from schizophrenia but was denied disability pension on the ground that his psychiatric disorder was not triggered because of his job. The Armyman died in 2015.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi said Army personnel were recruited after extensive medical tests and if a soldier developed any mental disorder later, it would be presumed that it was caused because of the work. It said the government could not deny disability pension if someone was discharged due to stressrelated mental disorder.

“A general presumption is to be drawn that a member is presumed to have been in sound physical and mental condition upon entering service except as to physical disabilities noted or recorded at the time of entrance. If a person is discharged from service on medical ground for deterio ration in his health, it is to be presumed that the deterioration in the health has taken place due to service,“ the bench said. The court passed the order on the plea of family members of Laxmanram Poonia who was discharged after he was detected to be suffering from `acute schizophrenia like psychotic disorder'. He had served in the 27 AD Regiment for four years. Poonia died in 2015, two months after the Armed Force Tribunal dismissed his pension plea. His legal heirs then moved SC.

Advocate Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Poonia's family members, contended that he was physically and mentally fit when he was inducted in the Army but developed mental disorder and hypertension due to continuous duty hours for several days. She said his medical condition deteriorated as he was not allowed leave and was overburdened with work due to scarcity of staff.

The government refuted the allegation and told the bench that Poonia's medical condition was not work related and he must have been suffering from the illness before joining the force.

It contended that a person's psychiatric disorder could not be detected in the medical examination conducted at the time of enrolment. The bench, however, rejected the Centre's contention and said there was nothing on record to show that he was suffering from the illness at the time of joining the force.

“When he was enrolled in the Army on September 14, 2005, nothing was recorded in his service record that he was suffering from any disease or disability. Likewise, during the entire period of training and while he was performing his service there was no sign of any abnormal behaviour or disability. For the first time, in or about 2007, he is alleged to have shown his agitated behaviour,“ the bench said. “In the absence of any evidence on record to show that he was suffering from any such disease like schizophrenia at the time of entering into military service, it will be presumed that he was in sound mental condition at the time of entering into military service and the deterioration of health has taken place due to military service,“ it added.

Civilians’ emoluments vis-à-vis defence personnel

2004 onwards: Defence personnel paid considerably higher than civilians

The Times of India, November 23, 2015

Comparison between salary progression of defence and civilian officers ; Graphic courtesy:

Pradeep Thakur

Post-2004, salary gap continues to widen: Panel analysis

Defence personnel get higher pay than civilian counterparts

Officers of the three defence services -Army, IAF and Navy -are paid 29% higher salary compared to their civilian counterparts from the IAS, IPS and other Group A services at the starting level, the seventh pay panel has said. For post-2004 recruits, this pay differential has increased to 43% in favour of defence officers as civil servants who joined thereafter have to contribute towards pension benefits. This gap continues to remain wide at over 20% in favour of defence officers for the first nine years of service and remains uninterruptedly higher for 32 years.

“It does not take into account allowances, which are intended to compensate for specific hardships and risks that (defence) officers face in the discharge of their duties,“ the pay panel noted while doing a comparative analysis of salaries of defence officials with civil servants.

The analysis of pay does not account for other benefits in cash and kind admissible to defence officers such as free rations, tax concession for canteen, travel in railways and by air and free electricity up to 100 units each month.

The comparison was drawn after the three defence services in their joint memorandum urged the panel to maintain their edge in pay over civil servants. In its report submitted to the government on Thursday , the pay panel observed that after the sixth pay commission award, “the pay of defence service officers remains un interruptedly higher for a 32year period. Thereafter, pay of defence and civil service officers are at par“.

“The edge in initial pay for defence service officers, which was 7% post-third CPC, fell marginally to 4% and 3% in the fourth and fifth CPC respectively, has postsixth CPC increased sharply to 29%,“ the report said.

The commission, however, justified the pay edge and said, “Defence forces personnel are trained for war-like situations with highly sophisticated war machinery . They have to keep themselves posted in modern warfare. The military institutions are a key symbol of national pride.“

Further, a study commissioned by the seventh pay panel showed that salaries of defence officers and JCO ORs in India, based on sixth CPC pay scales, compared favourably with that of defence personnel in countries like the US and the UK, where the GDP per capita in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms is significantly higher than that of India -9.4 times in the case of the US and 6.7 times in the case of the UK.

The pay panel clarified that these conclusions were equally applicable to civilian employees who were similarly placed. The Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses carried out the study comparing the salary structure of personnel in the Indian defence forces with that of UK and US on PPP basis.

Emoluments of service chiefs

Salaries of Army chief and equivalent in Navy and IAF based on Purchasing Power Parity, US, UK and India; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Apr 27 2016

2016: After the 7th pay commission

The Times of India, Apr 27 2016

Pradeep Thakur

A comparison drawn by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), a defence ministry think tank, on the pay packets of Army chiefs and equivalent in the US, the UK and India said a general and equivalent in the US was paid $181,500 per annum (in PPP terms). The salary in the UK for similar ranks was $269,868. In India, the three services chiefs, who enjoy pay equivalent to the Cabinet secretary , received $140,520.

If the recommendations of the 7th pay panel are implemented, the Indian Army chief 's annual salary will jump to $189,482 (in PPP terms), almost $8,000 more than what a general and equivalent ranks draw in the US. The huge salary hikes will apply equally to civilian officers too.

India's annual per capita income is $5,833 (in PPP terms) while it is $54,630 in the US and $39,137 in the UK. The purchasing power parity conversion factor, used worldwide to compare income levels in different countries, is “the number of units of a country's currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as a dollar would buy in the US“.

The pay panel observed, in light of protests by the three Service chiefs asking for more money and perks, that “defence service officers and JCOORs in India, based on 6th CPC pay scales, are placed quite well in terms of pay , even in relation to defence personnel in countries like US and UK, where the GDP per capita in PPP terms for the country as a whole is significantly higher than that of India“.

These conclusions are, however, equally applicable to civilian employees of the government who are similarly placed. The pay panel's analysis did not take into account the augmentation of pay being recommended by the 7th CPC.

The IDSA, an autonomous institution funded by the government, was in 2015 commissioned by the Pay Commission to study how well the military and the generals were paid.

Disability pension

The position in 2016

i) Disability pension for 100% disability, from before the 3rd pay commission to 2016.
ii) Percentage of officers retiring with disability vis-à-vis JCOs/ ORs, 2006-13.

Pradeep Thakur, Disability pension: More equity among ranks govt aim, Oct 12 2016 : The Times of India

Count Of Officers Retiring With Disability Rose Sharply In '13-'14

The government's decision to discard the 6th CPC's percentage-based determination -30% of last drawn basic pay for 100% disability -with a slab-based one in the 7th CPC is intended to bring more equity among different ranks risking their lives in battlefield operations.

After the 6th CPC, when percentage-based calculation was introduced, for 100% disability at the lowest rank for jawans, the disability pension went up from Rs 1,550 to Rs 3,138, a little over double, while at the highest level for officers, it rose from Rs 2,600 to Rs 27,000, more than 10 times.

The disparity seemed to reflect in disability being reported in the higher ranks of brigadier and above. Officers retiring with disability in the armed forces increased from 13% in 2007-08 to 20% in 2013-14. On the other hand, jawans and JCOs retiring with disability decreased from 19% in 2007-08 to 7% in 2013-14.

There are 13.20 lakh soldiers and other ranks who stand to lose from this skewed system that seems to benefit 66,700 officers (strength of the three Services). Military officers have been demanding that the government make an upward revision of disability pension from the 6th pay level of 30% of last pay drawn to 50% of last pay in cases of 100% disability .

But this would mean a retired general with 100% disability will draw pension equal to the pay of a serving general. A soldier at the bottom of the curve will get an additional Rs 10,00015,000 per month, besides the normal pension, in case of 100% disability . Disability pension is in addition to normal pension.

As per the new slab of the 7th pay panel, officers of the three Services, including honorary commissioned officers, will get Rs 27,000 per month disability pension in addition to normal pension in case of 100% disability . Subedar major, subedar, naib subedar and equivalent ranks in other Services would get Rs 17,000 a month; havildar, naik and sepoy would get Rs 12,000. The equity between the highest paid disability pension to officers and at the lowest rank has been restored to the pre-6th pay panel level.

According to the 7th CPC, the ratio of maximum to minimum compensation for disability across the ranks witnessed a decline from 4.85 prior to the 3rd CPC to 1.67 after the 5th CPC. But as a consequence of implementation of the percentage-based system in the 6th CPC, the ratio of maximum to minimum was reversed to 8.60.

After implementation of the percentage-based disability pension, it was noticed that more senior officers in the rank of brigadier and above were claiming disability and “Service officers invalidated out and one who served on and retired in due course got the same quantum of disability element“ in their monthly remuneration package.

Sexual harassment, discrimination

2015-17: 12 complaints

In last 2 yrs, 12 women officers filed plaint of harassment in armed forces, Mar 22, 2017: The Times of India

A dozen women officers in the armed forces have lodged complaints of harassment and discrimination over the last two years, even as the government is working towards increasing more avenues for women in the Army , Navy and IAF.

Stating this in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Tues day , minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre said six cases of harassment and discrimination against women officers have been recorded in the Army since 2015. The Navy had three such cases, while IAF had two. Another such case took place in the military medical and nursing stream last year.

Women constitute a miniscule minority in the overwhelmingly male-dominated environs of the 14lakh strong armed forces, even though they are being commissioned as officers since the early-1990s.

Women officers currently number just 3,578 of the 66,044 officers in the three Services. There are also 1,288 women doctorsdentists as well as 4,094 nursing officers in the armed forces.

’Stealing the affections of a brother officer's wife’

Tribunal/ 2016: be lenient

Can't sack pilot for adultery, IAF told. Oct 20 2016 : The Times of India

Time Has Come To View Marital Ties, Infidelity A Bit Leniently: Tribunal

The military has been asked by the Armed Forces Tribunal to take a more lenient view on extramarital affairs and not award punishment as harsh as dismissal from service in such cases.

The observations by the Kolkata bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal were made while adjudicating a case last month related to the cashiering of a young Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, Flight Lieutenant Ishan Sharan, who was found guilty by a court of inquiry (CoI) of an extramarital affair with the officer wife of a brother officer. Squadron Leader Anindita Dasgupta committed suicide after the affair ended and Sharan married another woman four years ago.

The landmark judicial review by the AFT on September 14, 2016 has converted Flight Lieutenant Sharan's sentence from “dismissed from service“ to “released from service“. “The time has come when aspects such as unfortunate break-ups of existing marital relationships, consensual relationships with others and infidelity should not be viewed so seriously as to lead to the dismissal or even graver punishments that the IPC and statutory acts of the Army , Navy and Air Force provide for,“ the tribunal observed in its order.

“While not condoning extramarital relationships, we must at the same time reflect upon the changing mores of our society . With women joining the Armed Forces in large numbers, working closely and socialising with their male counterparts, it is unreasonable to expect that the military would be immune to social changes in relationships between the two sexes,“ the bench said.

Sharan was accused of “failing to exercise caution and restraint by staying with a senior lady officer in her house at Jodhpur's Air Force Station in the absence of her husband“. A CoI found him fit to be dismissed from service as he had been “behaving in a manner unbecoming of an officer by luring a senior lady officer into a relationship, thereby stealing her love and affection“. Anindita's husband, Sqadron Leader Vishak Nair, and Sharan were posted in Jodhpur at the time of the suicide in the intervening night of November 27-28, 2012. The tribunal took exception to the dismissal letter holding Sharan guilty of “stealing the affection of the wife of a brother officer“ and said its wording smacked of a patriarchal mindset.

“While certainly extramarital relations should not only be discouraged and disapproved of in no uncertain terms, to hold only one party responsible, that is, the male and not the female who may be as educated, as mature, even older and senior than the male, is reflective of a predisposed and biased mindset that also assumes that the wife of a brother officer is the property or chattel of the male and not an independent person in her own right who has the freedom to choose to live her life on her own terms,“ the tribunal said. It added, “The CoI did not take into account that in a marriage in the 21st century a well-qualified and educated wife, especially one in the Services and from a cosmopolitan background who holds the same rank as her husband, does have a mind of her own, a free will of her own, may pursue a path, however abhorrent and objectionable to her husband, including having an affair.“

The tribunal held that Sharan's dismissal was harsh, especially when the deceased seemed insistent on continuing with the relationship. It concluded that “at a belated stage, when much water has flowed under the bridge... it would be inexpedient and unwise to ask the Air Force authorities to take a fresh look at the entire episode in the light of the conclusions we have drawn. However, we cannot allow the stigma of dismissal to continue to remain on record given the circumstances of the case“.

Suicides

2009- 2013

597 military personnel have committed suicide in last 5 years, government says

The Times of India Rajat Pandit,TNN | Jul 22, 2014

NEW DELHI: The suicide toll in the highly-disciplined armed forces continues to cross the 100-mark year after year despite all the so-called measures being undertaken by the defence establishment to reduce stress among soldiers.

As many as 597 military personnel committed suicide in 5 years between 2009 and 2013.

Disclosing these figures in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, defence minister Arun Jaitely said, "The government has taken various measures to create an appropriate environment for defence personnel, so that they can perform their duty without any mental stress."

These measures, said Jaitley, include improvement in living and working conditions through provision of better infrastructure and facilities, additional family accommodation, liberalized leave policy, a grievance redressal mechanism, psychological counseling and conduct of yoga and meditation as part of a battalion or unit's routine.

But the steps do not seem to be working very well on the ground.

In the Army, by far the largest of the three services, for instance, 116 soldiers committed suicide in 2010, 105 in 2011 and 95 in 2012. Last year, while 86 soldiers committed suicide, the figure for airmen and sailors stood at 15 and 6.

As reported by The Times of India earlier, stress-related cases in the shape of suicides and "fragging" (to kill or wound a fellow-soldier or superior) incidents have shown no signs of abating, and often also lead to disquiet and "clashes between officers and jawans.

Soldiers posted in far-flung areas often undergo tremendous mental stress for not being able to take care of the problems being faced by their families back home, which could range from property disputes and harassment by anti-social elements to financial and marital problems.

While prolonged deployment in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and northeast also takes a toll on the physical endurance and mental health of soldiers, it's compounded by poor salaries, lack of basic amenities, ineffectual leadership and sometimes humiliation at the hands of their officers.

Though former defence minister AK Antony had repeatedly asked state chief ministers and Union Territory lieutenant governors to make their civil district administrations more responsive to grievances of soldiers and their families, the situation remains almost the same.

2012-15: 100+ suicides every year

The Times of India, Dec 12 2015

Incidents of suicide and fratricide in armed forces between 2012-15 (December); Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, December 12, 2015

Armed forces still record at least 100 suicides every year

The armed forces continue to lose around 100 personnel to suicides every year despite all the so-called measures being undertaken by the defence establishment to reduce stress among soldiers. As many as 413 military personnel have committed suicide just since 2012, minister of state for defence Rao Inderjit Singh told Lok Sabha on Friday . The suicide toll in the 1.13-million strong Army was 334 soldiers since 2012, while the number stood at 67 for IAF and 12 for Navy .

“The major reasons for such incidents include occupational hazards, family issuesdomestic problems, perceived grievances, personal issues, mental built, financial problems and inability to withstand stress,“ said Singh.

As reported by TOI earli er, stress-related cases in the shape of suicides and “fragging“ (to kill a fellow-soldier or superior) incidents have shown no signs of abating and often also lead to disquiet and “clashes“ between offi cers and jawans. The Army ncidentally , has seen eight cases of fragging since 2012.

Soldiers posted in far-flung areas often undergo tremen dous mental stress for not be ng able to take care of the problems being faced by their families back home, which could range from property disputes and harassment by antisocial elements to financial and marital problems.

Prolonged deployment in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and northeast also takes a toll on the physical endurance and mental health of soldiers. All this is also compounded by poor salaries, lack of basic amenities, ineffectual leadership and sometimes humiliation at the hands of their officers. Singh said the government has taken several measures to prevent such incidents, with a large number of officers having being trained as counsellors. “The measures include improvement in living and working conditions through provision of better infrastructure and facilities; additional family accommodation; liberalised leave policy; establishing a grievance redressal mechanism; provision of counselling; conduct of yoga, meditation as part of the unit routine etc,“ he said.

But they have not proved very effective in stemming the suicide rate. In the Army , 69 soldiers have already committed suicide this year, while 13 airmen have also taken their lives in the IAF.

“One of the biggest worries for jawans is the hardships their families face back home. With mobile phones, our jawans keep on getting constant updates from their families, which adds to their mental stress and strain,“ said an officer.

See also

Indian Navy: Personnel and service matters