Army to seek review of tribunal order on Kargil records

NEW DELHI - The Indian Army will file a review petition on the Armed Forces Tribunal’s order seeking corrections in the official records of the 1999 Kargil war for “bias” against an officer.

A well-informed source Monday told IANS that after analysing all relevant records, the army has decided not to challenge the order in the Supreme Court but seek a review of the judgment in the tribunal itself.

“We have documents with us to prove that it is contrary,” said the source, ruling out the war records being biased or fudged.

The tribunal had May 26 ruled that Lt. Gen. (retd) Kishan Pal, the Srinagar-based 15 Corps commander during the Kargil war, had shown bias against Brig. (retd) Devinder Singh who was commanding the 70 Infantry Brigade during the conflict with Pakistan.

The tribunal had asked the army to modify its records to give Singh credit for the victory in Kargil’s Batalik sector.

In its judgment, the tribunal said Pal had distorted a subordinate’s performance reports, which went into the writing of the war history.

Singh had complained that his performance during the conflict had been assessed incorrectly, which eventually cost him a war medal and a promotion to the rank of major general.

Singh claimed that he was cited for award of the Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest gallantry medal, but was instead given the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM), a peacetime honour.

“The army has examined the situation reports and found that no distortion has been made,” the source said, adding the records, available with the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), have been reexamined in the aftermath of the tribunal verdict.