With some harsh words for the Army, the Armed Forces Tribunal on Tuesday refused to review its order for correction of 1999 Kargil war records which did not reflect the actual role played by the then Brigade Commander Brigadier Devinder Singh.
The Tribunal rejected a review petition against its May 27 order in which the Army was directed to correct the records of the Kargil conflict following contention by Singh that the battle accounts were fudged by his superior Lt. Gen. Kishan Pal.
Taking a serious view of the review petition, Tribunal Chairperson Justice A.K. Mathur said the Army should be "thankful" as the previous verdict could have been "worse" as decorations of Lt. Gen. Kishan Pal could have also been withdrawn.
In its May 27 order, the Tribunal had asked the Army to expunge Singh's Annual Confidential Report(ACR) written by Lt Gen Pal and directed it to correct certain records of the Kargil conflict.
Singh had moved the Delhi High Court in 2006, complaining that his role as leader of the 70 Infantry Brigade in the Batalik Sector had been underplayed and this had cost him a war medal and promotions.
The Tribunal had accepted his contention that his contribution had been incorrectly represented by Lt. Gen. Kishan Pal and held that "the ACRs were not written in an objective and unbiased manner".
In view of the adverse ACR by Lt. Gen. Pal, Brigadier Singh could not be promoted to the rank of Major General.
Among the records which the Tribunal had wanted to be corrected was a paragraph in the After Action Report of the war and two other paragraphs of the Kargil war account.
After the Army filed the review petition, Singh had also filed a plea seeking changes in the Kargil Review Committee report to absolve him and his unit of the "blame" for intrusion by Pakistani Army into Indian territory before the war started.