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Antony to adjudicate Indian Army transfer row

By IANS

New Delhi : Defence Minister A.K. Antony has promised to play the honest broker in a row that has broken out in the Indian Army over the controversial transfer of a lieutenant general who heads the crucial Northern Command that is responsible for guarding Jammu and Kashmir.

“The minister has said he will examine all aspects before coming to a decision,” an official said Saturday.

The comment came after Lt. Gen. H.S. Panag, who heads the Udhampur-based Northern Command, met Antony to protest his shift to the relatively insignificant Lucknow-based Central Command.

“The officer (Lt. Gen. Panag) had a 20 minute meeting with the minister, who patiently heard him out. The minister promised to closely examine the issue before coming to a decision,” the official told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity, given the sensitivity of the subject.

In normal course the transfer would have gone unnoticed. In this case, however, it is being linked in some quarters to Panag’s probes into two purchase scandals that occurred at the Northern Command when the present Indian Army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, headed it.

The army vehemently denies this, saying the events are not linked. The scams relate to the purchase of tents and eggs under special powers granted by Panag’s predecessor Kapoor, who headed the Northern Command till last January. Kapoor had subsequently served as the army vice chief before being elevated to the top job Sep 30, 2007.

A major general has been served a show-cause notice in the case of the tent purchases and though there is no evidence of any personal wrongdoing by Kapoor, a case of impropriety can be made out, sources in the northern command say.

The army refuses to comment on this but says that the enquiries into the scams were completed two months ago.

“The move to shift Panag was initiated only after the probes were completed,” another officer said.

Kapoor has approved the transfer and the file was subsequently cleared by the concerned joint secretary in the defence ministry. It would then travel to the defence secretary and finally to Antony. After that, it would have to be approved by the cabinet committee on appointments, following which the formal transfer orders would have been issued.

Panag, on his part, has vehemently resisted his transfer and had sought an appointment with Antony to present his side of the story. This in itself is an unprecedented move in the annals of the Indian Army.

“It’s rather surprising that Panag should have sought and been granted an appointment with the minister. In the armed forces, once you receive an order, you follow it in letter and spirit,” an officer pointed out.

Explaining the rationale behind the transfer, the officer said it had become necessary as the lieutenant generals heading the Central Command and the Kolkata-based Eastern Command are retiring on Feb 29 and their replacements have to be found.

He also pointed out that there had been more than a dozen transfers of army commanders in the past. Among the most recent was that of Gen. (retd) S. Padmanabhan, who was shifted from the Northern Command to the Southern Command before becoming army chief in October 2000.

To that extent, Panag’s transfer was part of routine procedure, the official added.