Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29

The Supreme Court has refrained the Centre from making any appointment to the post of the Director General Medical Services (Air Force) after it fell vacant earlier this month on the incumbent being posted as the DGMS(Army).

In its orders passed on August 1, 2018, the SC had quashed the appointment of the DGMS(Army). In doing so, it upheld the AFT judgment that allowed a petition filed by Maj Gen (now Lt Gen) Manomoy Ganguly, who challenged the appointment on grounds of seniority and merit.

The AFT, while quashing the government’s choice for the post of DGMS (Army), had also ruled that Ganguly be given the post. On August 10, the government posted Air Marshal Rajvir Singh, then DGMS (IAF), as DGMS (Army) in the rank of Lt Gen. Medical officers are rotated amongst three services and don the uniform and ranks of the service they are posted to.

Ganguly, whose promotion to Lt Gen had been notified by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet in January, is still heading the medical branch at Southern Command, a post tenable by a Maj Gen. Following Rajvir’s posting, he again moved the SC, staking his claim for the Army’s top medical post.

In its August 1 order, the SC disagreed with AFT’s conclusion that the appointment to the post of DGMS (Army) is not based on seniority alone and ruled the AFT’s direction that Ganguly be straightaway appointed as DGMS (Army) may not be proper.