Air Vice Marshal Arvind DalayaThe Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has declined to approve the decision of a Special Selection Board (SSB) of the Army recommending promotion of a Major General to the rank of Lt General. The case pertains to an officer of the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC), Major General Anil Kumar, of 1987 seniority who was considered by a SSB for promotion as a fresh case to assess his suitability for promotion to the rank of Lt. Gen in RVC. The SSB had recommended the officer for empanelment, if found fit. The recommendations of the SSB were submitted to the Cabinet Secretariat for the consideration and approval by the ACC.
However, the case was returned by the Cabinet Secretariat without confirmation. Accordingly, Ministry of Defence (MoD) intimated the status of the case to the Military Secretary’s (MS Branch) with instructions that the SSB be held afresh from the next available batch. The officer was informed that had not been empanelled in this board.
The officer then moved the AFT Principal bench in New Delhi which directed that that any promotion or orders passed during the pendency of the matter shall be provisional and subject to final outcome of his petition. The AFT heard his case subsequently and in March 2022 observed that the record of the consideration indicating the reasons for non-confirmation by the Cabinet Secretariat and the consequent non-empanelment of the officer were not found. The Respondents were given time to produce the relevant records/ seek instructions and the matter was then heard in May 2022 and the respondents were directed to submit the case to ACC for their consideration and endorsement.
In a hearing in August 2022, the AFT observed that the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) referred the case back to the Cabinet Secretariat in May 2022 for their reconsideration, and based on the directions of the Cabinet Secretariat the DMA submitted a self-contained proposal. Certain clarifications were sought by the Cabinet Secretariat, all of which were replied to by the DMA and the case was then referred to the ACC in July 2022. The case was considered by the ACC and vide PMO’s Office Note dated July 2022 it was intimated that the proposal of the DMA for empanelment of Maj Gen Anil Kumar for promotion to the rank of Lt Gen was not approved.
The AFT notes that since the recommendations of the SSB has now been considered by the competent authority, and has not approved the applicant for empanelment, the Respondents can now proceed with further action on issue of any promotion or orders in the matter. Aggrieved with the AFT order the officer has now approached the Delhi High Court where a division bench has directed that since the application of the petitioner is pending before the AFT, the respondents are to ensure filing of counter affidavit within the time granted by the AFT, if not already filed, failing which the same shall be accepted with a cost of Rs.50,000/- to be paid in favour of “Bharat ke Veer”.
First CO of ‘Siachen Pioneers’ passes away
The first Commanding Officer of 114 Helicopter Unit, better known as ‘Siachen Pioneers’, Air Vice Marshal Arvind Dalaya (retd), passed away in Base Hospital Delhi on September 2.
The Leh-based helicopter unit has distinguished itself in Ladakh and more specifically Siachen Glacier over the past many decades and had also earned a name during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. He was awarded a Vayu Sena Medal for gallantry for leading sorties in Sialkot sector in support of the Army.
Details of the Air Vice Marshal Dalaya’s personal life and career were shared on Twitter by military history aficionado, Anchit Gupta, who regularly researches many unknown facets of military aviation history of India. These have been used in this column with his permission. Born in 1931 at Murree, now in Pakistan, the late officer’s father was Reverend Alexander Manmohan Dalaya who was awarded a Member of British Empire (MBE) and was the Principal of Edwards College in Peshawar. The family initially decided to stay on in Pakistan after partition in 1947 but later moves to Bombay. Reverend Dalaya went on to became Principal of Madhav College, Ujjain and Christian College Indore. Young Arvind Dalaya joined the IAF as a cadet in 1949 with 54 Pilot’s Course and was commissioned as a fighter pilot in January 1951.
As per Anchit, his first posting was with No. 3 Squadron, then flying Hawker Tempests. In 1953, just two years into his career, he completed his QFI course at Ambala followed by stints as an instructor. In late 50s he converted to Mi-4 helicopters and became the 2nd CO of 109 Helicopter Unit which performed admirably in the 1962 war in Ladakh.
Thus, when 114 HU was set up in 1964 as the first unit to be permanently based in Leh Arvind Dalaya was chosen as the CO and converted to the Chetak helicopters. In this tenure, he led the unit during ’65 war and was awarded Vayu Sena Medal, says Anchit Gupta. Later in his career was the first CO of 251 Signal Unit (SU), serving in an Air Defence Direction Centre on the P-30 Radar at Agra followed by command of the 507 SU after the 1971 war. He also commanded 1 Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) at Dehradun and Air Force Records Office (AFRO). In 1977 served with Air Force Station New Delhi and then as Director, Personnel Services before taking over Air Force Station Palam in 1983. In 1984, he took over as AOC J&K just as the Siachen operations-Op Meghdoot-were launched and where the helicopter unit he had raised-114 HU-earned its laurels. He retired from service in 1987. Air Vice Marshal Arvind Dalaya was 91.