New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS) An Indian Army Major-General who was denied promotion for over two years was Thursday given some relief with the Delhi High Court asking the army to give him his due promotion.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 on the army for not obeying the court’s earlier directions.
A division bench comprising of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M.C. Garg asked the army to promote Major-General A.K. Kapur, who has already served 37 years, to the rank of Lieutenant-General.
Kapur has been denied promotion since 2007 even after the recommendations of the special selection board (SSB).
However, the army contended before the court that since two cases were registered against Kapur by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), he could not be promoted.
“Taking note of the fact that the SSB had been held after the first information report (FIR) was registered and yet the SSB in its own wisdom had recommended the petitioner for promotion, finding nothing adverse in his career profile, proves that his case should be re-examined,” the bench said.
The court also noted that in the two cases registered by the CBI nothing has come on record against the petitioner and a pending inquiry cannot be the only basis for not giving him promotion.
“Mere pendency of a vigilance case would not come in the way of promotion of an officer,” the bench said.
“The CBI enquiry had produced no results…and despite waiting for a period of 10 months no recommendation have been made by the CBI and then the petitioner approached the court,” the bench said.
The court also took note of the fact that since Kapur is retiring Nov 30, 2009, his opportunity to earn his rank would be defeated.
“No amount of subsequent monetary compensation is a substitute for holding the rank. The privilege to wear the uniform and the rank is only of the armed services, paramilitary services and the police and it is the aim of any officer to hold the highest rank and wear the same on his shoulder.”
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