Armed Forces Tribunal reinstates 2 cadets who were removed from IMA over clash with Tajik counterparts

The Army had issued orders on June 7, 2021 directing that the two GCs, who were originally jawans undergoing training in Army Cadet College (ACC) Wing of IMA to become officers, to be withdrawn from training and be returned to their respective units. Gunner Dinesh Singh was from the Regiment of Artillery while Sepoy Dharmendra Kumar was from EME and they were relieved from the IMA accordingly.

The two ex-GCs had appealed against the Army’s decision in the AFTs Principal Bench in New Delhi in June 2021 and the bench had stayed the expulsion of the cadets from IMA on June 10, 2021 and the judgment was reserved in March 2022.

According to Colonel Rajeev Manglik, the advocate of the two cadets, the AFT took into consideration the entire gamut of the case while deciding the matter. “The bench noted that the two young cadets have their entire careers in front of them and the loss of one year’s seniority is a punishment in itself,” he said.

In the judgment delivered on Wednesday by the bench of Justice Rajendra Menon and Lt Gen PM Hariz, the punishment of withdrawal from IMA was considered too harsh and the Army was directed to reinstate the two cadets in IMA Dehradun and the duo has been allowed to complete their training and be commissioned as officers. “The loss of one year in training and, therefore, their subsequent seniority as officers should be commissioned punishment enough for their misdemeanour,” the bench said.

The bench has also found that the practice of not giving officer cadets a copy of the Court of Inquiry into incidents where they are under scrutiny needs to be revised. It has ordered that a copy of the inquiry must be made available to cadets facing disciplinary proceedings and also that an adequate time period should also be provided to them to reply to show cause notices supplied to them.

As reported by The Indian Express on June 9, 2021, the Indian Army had taken action against six Indian GCs and four Tajik GCs for a clash that took place at IMA on March 3, 2021. The clash had preceded altercations and fights on February 24 and March 2.

In his petition before the AFT, one of the GCs had pleaded that as a third term cadet in the Hajipir Company of the Cariappa Battalion, he was on the cusp of passing out from the academy as an officer on June 12 when he was removed from the academy on June 7 and ordered to report back to the Artillery Centre in Nasik in his original rank of a gunner.

He contended in his petition that on March 3, 2021 around 21 GCs of Tajikistan entered his room and broke upon the latches and beat Indian GCs present in the room using hockey sticks and rods injuring many Indian GCs and resulting in a medico-legal case. He added that he, along with seven other Indian GCs, were admitted to the Military Hospital in Dehradun and were initially admitted in the ICU.

The petitioner had also contended that following the conclusion of a Court of Inquiry in April, he was issued a show cause notice on June 4 seeking his explanation as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.

“It is submitted that the copy of the Court of Inquiry was not supplied to him and he was issued the Show Cause Notice at around 4 pm and was told verbally to reply by 9 am on June 5, 2021, which is humanly not possible,” the petition stated.

He also said that the Army authorities did not provide any opportunity to him for his defence and finished his aspiration of becoming an officer in an “illegal and high-handed manner” — an opportunity which is available to only 0.01 per cent jawans in the Army.

He has also submitted that some of the other GCs have been relegated and no investigation has been carried out against the Tajikistan GCs against whom a medico-legal case was registered and thus gross injustice has been done to him.

The GC had also alleged that the Tajik GCs were habitual offenders and that they kept mobile phones in the rooms which was against the regulations of their academy. The petitioner had said that he and the other GCs were saved from the “merciless attack by the Tajikistan GCs by the Company Commander and other officers and as per the IMA Adjutant’s statement during the Court of Inquiry, the foreign GCs were not getting controlled by the officers and the Adjutant had to call armed guards of the Quick Reaction Team to control the Tajikistan GCs”.

The Army had contended that it was only after requisite vetting and approval that strict disciplinary actions had been taken against six foreign GCs and four Indian GCs for violating instructions concerning discipline in the academy. “The disciplinary actions are well considered and proportionate to the act of indiscipline by these gentlemen cadets,” an Army spokesperson had said at the time.