The principal bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal(AFT) has found a Vice Admiral guilty of favouring his son-in-law while downgrading other officials for promotions.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the bench also ordered Vice Admiral P K Chatterjee to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the petitioner Commander S S Luthra, a retired officer.
The bench said that Luthra took premature retirement after being passed over for promotion, and must be considered for the rank of Commander.
"It is disturbing and surprising that the Indian Navy does not have an in-built system to ensure such probable occurrence between relatives is addressed institutionally, so that such a situation, as occurred in this case, does not manifest," the bench said, the report adds.
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Appointed as Reactor Operator on the nuclear submarine inducted by the Indian Navy, Luthra alleged that he was downgraded for promotion.
Vice Admiral Chatterjee was his Senior Reviewing Officer (SRO), whose assessment/ marks decide the fate of officials like Luthra.
During the period between 2010 to 2012, Chatterjee served as the SRO for officers serving on-board nuclear submarines INS Chakra and INS Arihant. During that period, he wrote Annual Confidential Report of many officers which included his son-in-law Captain A V Agashe.
The bench asked the Navy to consider Luthra for promotion to the rank of Captain and, subsequently provide him the benefits of the rank and pension.
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The bench also said,"Indian Navy has lost a highly specialised officer, on whom admittedly a huge cost and time has been invested, for super specialisation in the complex domain of nuclear submarines. Such a loss to the Navy and consequently to the nation is disturbing."
