In a significant development, a
military court today stayed further action in the ongoing disciplinary action
against two officers allegedly involved in the Srinagar chopper fratricide case
on the next day of Balakot airstrikes last year.
Six Indian Air Force were killed in
the case including two pilots and four other crew members over Budgam while
they were returning to the Srinagar airbase around the same time when the
Pakistani fighters were moving around Indian territory.
"Both the offices (Group
Captain SR Chowdhary and Wing Commander Shyam Naithani) had challenged the
court of inquiry (CoI) as well as its finding on the ground of violation of
particular air force rules as well as the composition of the Court of Inquiry
being contrary to Air Force order," the counsel
of the two officers Ankur Chhibber said.
Join our Social Feeds for Daily Quizzes & More Here.
"The court after hearing the
parties was pleased to direct that prima facie there are violations in the CoI
and therefore has directed that no action be taken based on the said CoI and
its findings till the next date which is September 30," he
said.
The Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal headed by Chairman Rajendra Menon said that "we are of the considered view that the applicant has, prima facile, been able to demonstrate non-compliance with non statutory provisions in the conduct of court of inquiry."
While Gp Captain Chaudhary was the
Chief Operations Officer of the Srinagar airbase when the incident took place
and the wing commander was the Senior Air Traffic Control officer (SATCO).
A missile from the SPYDER air
Defence Missile systems was fired at the Mi-17v5 chopper and brought it down
immediately.
Source Link
0 Comments