ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Delhi HC seeks all records on Bhagwat's sacking

Taking serious note of the sacking of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat as naval chief, the Delhi high court today ordered the central government to place before it records relating to the case which prompted the dismissal.

A division bench, comprising Justices Y K Sabharwal and K S Gupta, accepted the plea of the government for not issuing any showcause notices on a PIL seeking reinstatement of the admiral before going through the records.

The bench asked Additional Solicitor Generals C S Vaidyanathan and Madan Lokur to place the records on January 19, when they would consider issuance of showcause notices to the government. The ASGs had sought a short adjournment to place the records and convince the court about the bona fide intention of the government in the matter.

The bench initially wanted that the Centre to file the affidavit on the allegations and submissions made in the PIL and place the records of the case, but later decided that they would consider issuance of showcause, if at all necessary, only after perusing the records.

The judges, however, overruled the contention of Vaidyanathan that the petitioner, Wing Commander H M Sethi had no locus standi to approach the court with the PIL as he was not the affected party and the issue was not of any public interest.

They were of the view that ordinarily, it was the affected party that should approach the court in such circumstances, but this case was more than an 'ordinary one' as it had attracted the attention of the entire nation.

''The entire nation has been watching for the last few days. It is better for the government that the nation should be told as much as it can be told about it (the sudden dismissal of the naval chief),'' the bench observed.

About the locus standi of the petitioner in approaching the court, the bench was of the view that ''if an officer does not approach the court, it may not prima facie lead to the fact that the public at large is not entitled to know the reasons in a issue of great importance.''

Admiral Bhagwat was unceremoniously removed as the naval chief on charges of defying the government orders and causing threat to the national security.

Wg Cdr H M Sethi, an ex-serviceman, has sought a high-level probe into the circumstances leading to the sacking of the admiral and a court's direction to the government for divulging the reasons, grounds and charges for the action. He also wanted that Admiral Bhagwat should be reinstated to the post if exonerated by the inquiry committee.

Another PIL filed by Lt Gen (retd) Premnath Hoon is pending before the Bombay high court. Hoon's plea has also sought a direction to the Centre to disclose the facts in public interest.

Wg Cdr Sethi contended that the sudden, abrupt and unceremonious sacking of Admiral Bhagwat on undisclosed, untenable and unsubstantiated grounds was not only arbitrary, illegal and questionable but also violative of the statutory provisions of the Navy Act, 1957 and Article 14 of the Constitution.

If at all required, the government should have removed the admiral, a sailor of exceptional order, through court martial or administrative removal, the petition said, adding that the sacked chief had in fact become the victim of 'bureaucratic high-handedness, political compulsions and arms lobby allegedly having influence in naval headquarters and with the government'.

It said every citizen of the country had the right to know what had gone wrong so suddenly and gravely to result into the abrupt dismissal of the naval chief specially in view of the serious charges of his being a threat to national security.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report