Even as the Indian Army top brass recently spoke about wrong-doing on the part of Malegaon blasts case-accused Lt. Col. P.S. Purohit, the Army is all set to furnish the records of the Court of Inquiry of Lt. Col. Purohit before the Armed Forces Tribunal in the capital. The Convening Order of the Army Court of Inquiry states that the Court of
Inquiry will “bring out extent to which the superiors, colleagues and subordinates (of Lt. Col. Purohit) were aware of the illegal or undesirable activity of Lt. Col. Purohit and any deliberate failure to take cognisance” of these activities. The Court of Inquiry was also mandated to probe any “lapses in command, control and supervision which enabled Lt. Col. Purohit to become involved in undesirable activities”. The Court of Inquiry proceedings concluded on September 1, 2010. “Lt Col Purohit is an aberration. He was detached from the troops and command authorities for very long. So, somewhere he has gone wrong,” Army chief Gen. V.K. Singh had recently stated.
The Court of Inquiry went into several allegations levelled against Lt. Col. Purohit who was alleged to have been a member of an organisation “not recognised as part of the armed forces” contrary to provisions of Army rules. He was also alleged to have illegally sold his 7.62mm pistol to an arms dealer in Pune. Lt. Col. Purohit was also alleged to have “initiated action” for procurement of a bullet-proof jacket, and de-bugging equipment without due authority.
Lt. Col. Purohit, a military intelligence officer, was posted at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh at the time of his arrest.