Vijay Mohan.
In May 2010, 11 years after the conflict, the Armed Forces Tribunal held that Lt Gen Krishan Pal, then GOC 15 Corps and a key commander overseeing the operations, had fudged some reports relating to the conflict and had shown bias towards a senior field commander.
The tribunal directed that records pertaining to operations by 70 Infantry Brigade in Batalik written by Lt Gen Krishan Pal be corrected and put in the right perspective. This includes portions of the after action report (AAR) of 15 Corps and extracts of Op Vijay - Account of War in Kargil, written by the Army Headquarters. It also directed that in view of the bias of the GOC all ACRs by him of the brigade commander, Brig Devinder Singh, be expunged.
The Brigadier had been overlooked for promotion and was awarded a Vishisht Seva Medal, a non-gallantry award, even though he had been cited for the Maha Vir Chakra. Lt Gen Krishan Pal retired as the Quarter Master General, one of the eight Principal Staff Officers at Army Headquarters.
In his petition, Brig Devinder Singh had contended that the AAR had falsely shown four of his most successful battalions under a fictitious headquarters commanded by then Deputy General Officer of 3 Infantry division, Brig Ashok Dugal, which reflected a lopsided picture of his command and battle performance to the Army Headquarters. Though a brigade comprises three battalions, 11 units were placed under his command, out of which seven received battle and theatre honours for their performance.
Playing the role of an enemy commander in a war game held at 15 Corps in April 1999, he had forecasted the pattern of the Kargil intrusions, but his projections were summarily dismissed by the GOC. Later during the actual operations in mid-June 1999, his assessment of the enemy in his sector was 600 regulars, where as the GOC projected it to be only 45 militants.
"It is obvious that the reports of Lt Gen Pal is not an objective assessment and more so the government has already expunged more than 50 per cent of his remarks. A person who writes an ACR in a biased manner cannot be allowed to sustain," the tribunal observed. The matter is now pending before the Supreme Court after the government filed an appeal against the tribunal's orders.
Division Commander under fire
Maj Gen VS Bhudhwar, then GOC 3 Infantry Division at Leh and the commander responsible for the Kargil frontier, came under fire for failing to respond to early warnings and intelligence reports about the intrusions and take stock of the situation accordingly. Reports stated that he was more involved in setting up a zoo housing rare species in Leh, tasking soldiers supposed to be guarding the LoC in the Kargil, Batalik and Turtuk sectors to hunt for birds and animals. He was moved out to a staff appointment a few months later and was the only senior commander in the conflict not to have been decorated.
Sacking of Brigade Commander
In the early stages of the conflict, Brig Surinder Singh, then commander of the Kargil-based 121 (Independent) Brigade, was removed from command and posted elsewhere on the grounds that he mishandled classified documents pertaining to operational and the security situation. He had claimed that he had sounded repeated warnings about the intrusions, but these were not heeded by senior commanders. Brig Surinder, who had been given high ratings in his earlier assessments, was posted several times within a short span of time, and in 2001, just a couple of months before his retirement, his services were terminated by the government. He moved the Delhi High Court and the case was later transferred to the Armed Forces Tribunal. The matter is now being heard by the tribunal's Chandigarh Bench.
Performers superseded
There were a large number of brigade commanders and commanding officers who had performed well during the conflict, but were superseded. Of the seven brigade commanders (including the 102 Siachen Brigade), three Brigadiers — Amar Aul (56 Bde), OP Nandrajog (121 Bde) and PC Katoch (102 Bde) — made it to the rank of Lieutenant General. Of the over 16 Colonels who had commanded infantry battalions during the conflict, at times leading from the front and winning decisive battles, most did not make it up the hierarchy. A few of them even opted for premature retirement while some moved the court.
Officers court-martialled
At the end of the conflict, the Army ended up trying three officers of the rank of Major by general court-martial for alleged disobedience of lawful command or showing cowardice. All three were dismissed from service. They later moved higher courts against their trial.
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The Tribune, Chandigarh
