The Navy and a retired Vice-Admiral have gone back to the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) after the Supreme Court dismissed their appeal over the tribunal’s severe indictment of both for alleged favouritism in promotions that allegedly wiped out the careers of almost the entire Russian-trained nuclear submarine engineers of the country.
A Bench of the tribunal in Delhi is expected to hear on Monday a new appeal filed by Vice-Admiral (retd) P.K. Chatterjee, who was the Inspector-General, Nuclear Safety, and had been indicted for nepotism by the body in its original order — it upheld the contention that Mr. Chatterjee deliberately inflated his son-in-law’s annual ratings while suppressing those of others.
Penalty imposed
Vice-Admiral Chatterjee was fined ₹5 lakh by the AFT in its July 31 order, which indicted both the Navy and him, and ruled that the Navy “does not have an in-built system” to prevent nepotism. The Navy’s appeal against the tribunal ruling had been withheld for technical reasons, sources said.
In its order, the tribunal had also ordered the promotion of Lieutenant-Commander S.S. Luthra, who moved it accusing that nepotism ruined the career of most of the pioneering nuclear submarine engineers.
Petition rejected by SC
Lt. Commander Luthra was one of the nuclear reactor operators trained in Russia for operating INS Chakra, the nuclear submarine India leased from Russia in 2010.
In the wake of the damning order, the Navy and Mr. Chatterjee moved the Supreme Court, which on November 6 dismissed their appeal, while granting them permission to go back to the tribunal with a fresh appeal.
