Monthly Archives: August 2018

In his fascinating work of 2012, ‘The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy’, Dr. Edward Luttwak, well-known political scientist and military historian, introduced the concept of what he termed as “great state autism”. The term is used to suggest that a collective national lack of situational awareness and distorted communications reduces a country’s ability to perceive international realities with clarity. Obviously, in this context, one accepts in good faith that the authors’ use of this term is obviously neither meant to stigmatize individuals with this disability, nor reflect in any manner on its complications.

In essence, he points out that leaders and ruling cliques are too fully immersed in dealing with the nitty-gritty of domestic politics, resolving crises and attending to their own ceremonial duties to have the time or mind space to delve deeply into or absorb the complexities of foreign affairs, except in times of crisis. Their decision making is thus driven by their dependency on careerist advisors who largely tend to tell them what they want to hear, lest their careers suffer, and that too in the most simplistic of terms. These inputs, after they are dove-tailed with that leader’s own perceptions, beliefs and priorities invariably result in decisions that tend to be out of synch with ground reality.

He further goes on to elucidate that in the context of China the autism it suffers from is of an “especially virulent” strain. This is because apart from its sheer size and massive population it is also impacted by the fact that through much of its isolationist history it has seen itself as the center of the world, a circumstance that it wishes to recreate. He points out that the change in its foreign policy from “peaceful rise” to hyper-nationalism and assertiveness can be explained as a combination of its complete misunderstanding of the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the United States, the need for President Xi Jinping, who had just assumed power, to assert his authority and the timid response of the Obama Administration to hegemonic actions in the South China Sea.

While Luttwak’s ‘Great State Autism’ hypothesis focuses on the issue of great power interaction through the lens of leadership dynamics, it should be possible to interpolate his hypothesis to understand and analyze leadership behaviors within large organizations, given their relative similarity, like the Indian Army, for instance? After all, in essence the Army is a humungously large organization that has historically been isolated from the general population and remains so, obviously for good reason and marches to its own drum beat. It also sees itself as central to ensuring the well- being of the State, though other instruments of State may have somewhat differing views on the subject. Most importantly, given its highly authoritarian and hierarchical command and control structure and emphasis on unquestioning obedience, their superior officer, especially those at the highest levels, are seen as akin to “God Kings” whose orders are to be implicitly followed.

Being a professional organization in which every individual starts at the very bottom and works his way upwards through time, it would be expected that all senior officers would be conversant and knowledgeable about the lower echelons of command, depending on his specialization and career profile, having been in that position at one time or the other. Yet, over the past few years we have seen a number of patently illogical decisions, verging on the ludicrous, having been initiated by Army Headquarters, obviously on the directions of the Chief. These actions have not only publicly portrayed the Army in extremely poor light, but have also demeaned the officer class as a whole and questioned their integrity and honesty, leading to deep fissures within the hierarchy. This has resulted in a lack of cohesiveness within the organization, an increasing distrust of the motives of the leadership and, as is to be expected, adversely impacting morale.

Some pertinent examples to illustrate the point include the Army Chief’s infamous directions banning officers on temporary duty from staying hotels, as authorized by government regulations, on the specious grounds that “some of them prefer to stay in hotels as they have to exchange briefcases with contractors.” Again in another recent case canteen facilities previously authorized with regard to purchase of cars through the CSD by military personnel have been drastically curtailed because “There were cases of two, three, four cars being purchased by a single person in less than five years. A correction was desperately needed”. Finally, we now have the ongoing controversy over the stoppage of tax deductions to Service personnel receiving disability pension on the grounds that “some veterans feel that the courage and valour displayed by soldiers wounded in battle should be compensated for by mere financial remuneration” and that “over the years broad-banding and compensation awarded for disability with income tax exemption, have led to a rise in personnel seeking disability, even for lifestyle diseases. The trend is worrisome and that too when the security challenges to the nation are on the rise.”

Despite all of this, it is hard to believe and it can be nobody’s case that the Army leadership, in effect the Army Chief, is itself bent on destroying its own credibility, in a sense hacking the very branch they are sitting on. Incidentally, it is pertinent to point out that each of these obnoxious and irrational decisions, of doubtful legality, has been shredded in public forums showing up the military leadership as vacuous, immature, unempathatic and completely out of touch with reality. While undoubtedly much of the blame can be laid on the Army Chief, whose tenure has not been lacking in controversy from the very beginning, those who have been complicit in supporting his decisions or have not objected to them in an effort to protect their career must also share in the blame. Each of us clearly comprehends that every such act only leads to further deterioration of the Service and makes the job of the next Chief that much harder. Yet the only reasonable explanation for their inability or unwillingness to tackle this display of virulent autism clearly points to the relevance of Dr. Edward Luttwak’s hypothesis. Finally, by now Prime Minister Modi must have realized the unnecessary embarrassment that the military leadership has caused his government by its latest foolishness, with regard to the circular on taxing disability pensions. It may not be a bad bet for the Government, and a fillip to his own reputation, to nip the controversy in the bud by nullifying the circular of the Central Board of Direct Taxes on the matter and allow a return to the status quo. Clearly the Army Chief would be shown up for his foolishness, but that is of little concern now that his term is soon coming to a rather ignoble end.

Maj PK Dharmani and Others VS Union of India
WP ( C ) 2662/2019

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Defence and Home ministries in a PIL titled Maj. P K Dharmani and others VS Union of India and others. Maj P K Dharmani, the lead petitioner is a retired Officer of the Indian Army and has meticulously researched this issue and has preferred the PIL. He is being supported by Col Iqbal Singh, Col Paramjeet Singh Randhawa, Retired Defence Officers Association with over 3700 retired officers, and Disabled War Veterans (India) regd, with approx. 10,000 War Disabled Officers and Men representing their retired and serving colleagues. The matter has been drafted and filed by Adv. Jaideep Singh (reachjai@gmail.com, Dharmvidhi Legal Services and Solutions).

The case of the petitioners is as follows.

Context
With over 11 Lakh serving troops at any time, plus a very large number of retired personnel, the Armed Forces of India constitute the largest government department with over 30% strength of the Central Government numbers.

The Officers and Men of the Indian Armed Forces are educated, highly trained, and a highly motivated force often considered the toughest, and amongst the most professional in the world, who have always given a great account of their valour in each war they have fought; right from the First World War (where over 10 Lakh served across the world; of whom 74,187 Laid down their lives, and 67, 000 were wounded) Second World War ( where 25 Lakh Indian Soldiers served, 87,000 laid down their lives), India’s Independence war – fought by the Indian National Army (Rash Bihari and Subhash Chandra Bose) 60,000 soldiers, of whom over 30,000 are said to have laid down their lives) fought the British forces for India’s freedom. Post Independence, they have gallantly fought and won each war, 1948, 1956, 1962, 1965, 1971, 1999, and the undeclared wars against Insurgents in the North East since Independence, Siachen Operations, Srilanka Operations, Kashmir anti terrorism operations, Congo, etc the list is indeed long.

What however is notable is that during wars, external attacks, natural calamities, riots etc when all else fails, the nation remembers the Defence forces, calls them hero’s who protect the country at the cost of their lives, (Serving in the most inhospitable climates from burning deserts at 48-50*C to Glaciers and extreme high altitude at – 50*C, without any complaints but with great pride) but as soon as normalcy is restored, their sacrifices are not only forgotten, but they then have to face Apathy, Discrimination, and Unethical treatment at the hands of the very Beurocracy that exists to serve them, no one then cares about their welfare.
Issue

The Status, relative seniority, equivalence levels of Armed Forces Officers along with their Pay, Perks, Pensions – including disability Pension, and other emoluments and allowances are being systematically downgraded through various unscrupulous means which include the following.

a) Illegal and unauthorized changes to the Warrant of Precedence through Ghost/unsigned letters
b) Unauthorized letters issued further downgrading ranks and equivalence of the Armed Forces personnel quoting these Ghost letters which do not exist in Govt records !

c) Wrong levels and information further miscommunicated to various Pay commissions to lower Pay, Pensions and allowances of Armed Forces Personnel, including to 7th Pay Commission (in complete contradiction to the order of the Kerala High Court single bench which was upheld by a division bench order and further upheld by the Hon. Supreme Court in the Rank Pay Case – Maj. Dhanapalan and others).

d) Arrogant disregard of orders of the Supreme Court, Prime Minister and Defence Minister – to misquote judgements and not implementing court awarded reliefs (Rank Pay, MFU etc), frivolous appeals to each award. Defence ministry remains the biggest litigant amongst all government departments with over 16000 cases in various courts (As per the Expert Committee report of Defence Minister) 90% Cases being Pensions and Benefits related of Armed Forces Personnel.

e) Denial of any grievance mechanism to any of the pay commissions while the same are available to civilian counterparts, misuse of Anomalies committees to gain a march over Defence Forces in terms of pay and allowances

f) Non representation of any Defence Forces representatives in any of the Pay Commissions after the 3rd Pay Commission.

g) Non publication and non-implementation of recommendations of various committees formed for reform of Defence Forces Salaries and benefits – like the Post War Committee of 1947, Raghuramiah committee of 1960 and One Man Judicial Commission – in fact, the reports of these are still classified as secret and not available in the public domain, and are not being given through RTI’s either.

h) Inadequate Grievance Mechanisms – Conflict of Interest – Armed Forces Tribunal is under administrative Control of the Defence Ministry, and its status is already under scrutiny of the Hon. Supreme Court in a petition. Lack of appointments / Non Functioning Benches and dilution of the qualifications of members are further issues adding to delay and denial of justice to Armed Forces officers and men.

i) Complete disregard of the representations of the Three Services Chiefs by the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister on implementation of 7th Pay Commission.

j) No attempt to resolve the 48 plus points of unresolved anomalies since the 4th Pay Commission till date.

k) Non participation in Service events, opening of Cantonment roads despite terrorist attacks like Pathankot, Samba, Sunjuwan, Nagrota and others thereby putting the lives of serving personnel and their families at grave risk

And others.

Warrant of Precedence

One such discrimination has been a systematic down gradation of their Status and Equivalence to the rest of the Government positions as defined under the Warrant of Precedence (First Issued in 1937, later reissued in 1979, both are active) without any sanction from the Parliament or the Cabinet.

Warrant of Precedence is the only Government document that outlines the sequential hierarchy of the various positions in the Government of India, starting from the President on the top as number 1, and then downwards all ranks under the Government of India. The Salary, Perks, Allowances, Emoluments, Pensions, etc all flow from this one document. While the government mischievously added as a foot note – in the 1979 version of the warrant of precedence – that it is only for ceremonial use, it is not so. Indeed there would not be a single case where the pay and perks of someone at a low level below 50 or 60 on the warrant of precedence could match anyone in the top 20.

While the Original Warrant Of Precedence issued in 1937 is more exhaustive, the one issued in 1979 is shorter and covers up to the Rank of Brigadier and their equivalents in the IAS, IPS and Others, the 1937 document is still used for equivalence below the rank of Brigadier and others.

Ghost unsigned letters have been released by Beurocracy downgrading the positions of the Armed forces ranks in comparison to Civil Services, Central Armed Police Forces and Indian Police Service ranks – over the last few decades; leading to instructions and orders being issued by under secretary ranked officers of the Ministry of Defence and others quoting these Ghost letters, to further degrade the ranks of the Armed Forces.

These artificially depressed ranks have then been used by pay commissions starting from the 3rd Pay Commission to 7th Pay commission to reduce the pay, perks and other emoluments of the Armed Forces personnel, leading to an alarming situation today where the Armed Forces Personnel earn lesser than their colleagues in IAS, IPS and even Central Armed Police Forces, who are placed either at an equal level or below/lower in the Warrant of Precedence. This issue today percolates across almost all ranks of the Armed Forces Ranks.

Even the disability pension Of the Armed Forces has also been a bone of contention with allegations of higher pensions being given to civilian counterparts.

Consider this, as per 7th CPC recommendations, the Tough Area Allowance (TRA) given to IAS, IPS, and other Government servants for a posting to a peaceful, state capital and metro of the north east -Gauhati, is 33% of their basic salary, and works out to approx.. RS 55,000 to Rs. 70,000 for IAS and IPS officers, and over Rs 30,000 for others; which is far higher than what the Armed Forces would get even at Siachen Glacier !
While Gauhati lies in the plains of Brahmaputra, with a subtropical climate (Annual average of 22*C), Siachen Glacier varies from 18,000 feet to 25,000 feet, with winter temperatures falling down to -50*C, enough to freeze boiling tea before it hits the ground !

Indian Armed Forces routinely deploy to similar high altitude areas right from Kashmir to Arunachal in the North East. In fact, the difficulty level can be understood from the fact that above 9000 feet, we need acclimatization to adjust to lower oxygen levels. There are few human habitations above this altitude. Leh is at 10400 feet. Above 18000 feet, humans run the risk of getting High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE), two potential killers if not immediately treated with evacuation to lower altitude. 18000 feet is considered dangerous for human life, yet our Armed Forces routinely deploy up to 25000 feet – from Kashmir to Arunanchal Pradesh across the entire Himalayas. How many civil servants or IPS or CPMF ever serve at such altitudes ?

We loose more Armed Forces soldiers every year to high altitude and complications like HAPE and HACE than enemy bullets ! How many IAS or IPS or other government servants die or get disabled due to complications of serving at extreme high altitude ?

Considering this, is the stand of the 7th pay commission justified ?

Downgradation

The 1937 Warrant placed the service Chiefs at level 9 and 10.

Shashi Tharoor, The MP wrote in his article in the Quint on April 21st 2016 on this subject that after the 1962 war, the Three Services Chiefs – Army, Navy and the Airforce – were put below the newly created Cabinet Secretary, and Major Generals were equated to a rank below the Director of Intelligence Bureau.

After the 1965 War, the Chiefs of Staff were further downgraded below the Attorney General.

In 1971 the service Chiefs came below the Controller and Auditor General (Both previously below the ranks of Lt. General), similarly Lt. Generals have been placed below the chief Secretaries, who previously were ranked lower than Maj. Generals.

This downgrading has since continued, current levels are much lower due to the illegal and unauthorized letters floated by beurocrats which mysteriously do not exist in government records, yet continue to be quoted in many other letters released based on these Ghosts !

It is therefore strange that after each war, instead of rewarding the Armed Forces for their sacrifices and exceptional leadership, the Armed Forces officers and other ranks have been downgraded in their pay, perks, status and equivalence, pensions and other emoluments. How can this be justified?

This downgrading has only continued since, using fabricated and unauthorized letters to further bring down equivalence of officers and men, in one case even to contradict an act of Parliament to place non Gazetted assistant level posts above Gazetted posts of Junior Commissioned Officers !

Pay Commissions

From 3rd Pay commission onwards, there has been no representation of Armed Forces in any of the pay Commissions right up to 7th Pay commission. The forces have been denied even anomality committees which are otherwise available to government employees to rectify any issues and grievances. Each pay commission has done its bit to further reduce the pay and perks of the Armed Forces.

For Example,

1. The 4th CPC gave rank pay but reduced the Basic Pay, thus lowering overall emoluments.

2. 5th CPC – The same as above, gave Rank pay but reduced the basic pay, thus lowering the overall emoluments

3. 6th CPC – Gave Military Service Pay (MSP) but reduced grade pay by quoting the 4th CPC, and did not consider adding Rank Pay in Grade Pay. Maj Dhanapalan and others brought this to the notice of the Hon. Kerala High Court, which directed that the rank pay be added to the Basic pay, which was finally upheld up to the Hon. Supreme Court of India. The Government however continues to mis – interpret this order, and the 7th CPC has gone to the extent of quoting this mis-interpretation in their report. This CPC reduced the Rank of Capt. To Junior time Scale. Similarly Junior Commissioned Officers have been downgraded – Higher grade pay is being given to Non Gazetted civilian officers even though JCO’s are Gazetted officers by an Act of Parliament !

4. 7 th CPC – completely changed everything by coming out with new levels 1-18 based on some principles and formulas – and using faulty baselines and without resolving the anomalies of the previous pay commissions has created further damage to the Armed Forces by systematically lowering both the starting and Top End of the pay scales – leading to a situation where even after adding Military Service Pay (MSP) the max pay of Defence Personnel is lower than the basic and max pay of civilian ranks equivalent or lower in the warrant of precedence to them.

Consider this, After 16 years of service – a Lt. Col would be at level 12 A, a Col at Level 13 and a Brigadier at level 13 A, while equivalent or lower ranked civilians and police personnel would reach level 14 !!

Status of Infantry Soldier

A fully trained Infantry Soldier with three years of service experience was equated by the Raghuramaiah committee in 1960 to a semi-skilled worker!! The 3rd Pay commission in 1973 placed a three year experienced and trained soldier between a semi skilled and skilled worker and added a 5% of pay as X factor.

This position has not been revised in the last 45 years till today !! Despite a massive change in the service conditions of the solider due to rapid advances in weapon and warfare technologies. A soldier of Today is a highly skilled person capable of operating sophisticated weaponry like Modern Assault rifles, Sniper Rifles, Grenade launchers, Computer and Software driven Anti Personnel and Anti Tank Weapons and Rocket launchers, Anti Aircraft weapons, High Tech surveillance and target acquisition and designation equipment , operation of small drones, night vision equipment, Use of explosives, Material Rifles, as well as on the spot decision making. They are very frequently involved in controlling terrorism in the North East, Kashmir, and others, are on UN mission deployments across the world, and are routinely working with their counterparts from other armies of the world through frequent international multi country exercises where they are expected to even be well versed with foreign cultures, languages, equipment etc. The threat profile being faced by an infantry soldier has undergone a huge change as well, with internal security today taking a higher toll on their health and lives than even external wars, Kashmir is a burning example where every day we hear of lives of soldiers being lost in the war on terror.

Even PMO Order Ignored and scuttled !!!

Based on representations, the then PM Mr Manmohan Singh, vide letter dated 27/12/2008 ordered setting up a High Powered Committee for determining equivalence of the Armed Forces with the All India Civil Services and Central Armed Police Forces, but till date, this has not been done and the order scuttled !!

Impact

This systematic downgrade in the Equivalence, Pay, Perks, Pensions, Allowances and other Emoluments and Status of the Armed forces personnel is causing a great upset in the members of the Armed Forces across all ranks and is Causing Upset, Alarm, Anger, and a deep resentment for the civilian establishment. While the disciplined soldiers are not vocal in this demand with the rest of the nation yet, their hurt and grievance is very very serious and the small mindedness of some civilian beurocrats is threatening the foundations of the civil – military relationship. This is evident from the large number of representations made by the Defence forces Chiefs.

Indeed the Three Chiefs refused to pass orders for the implementation of the seventh Pay Commission, and were finally over ruled by the Central Government having to bring out a Gazette for it. This is unprecedented in the history of this country.

In the words of wise Chanakya, who had then told his king:-
“The Mauryan Soldier does not enrich the Royal treasuries, nor fills the Royal granaries. He does not carry out trade and commerce nor produce scholars, works of literature, artists, artisans, sculptors, architects, craftsmen, doctors, and administrators. He does not build roads and ramparts, nor dig wells and reservoirs. He does not do any of this directly. The soldier only and merely ensures that the tax, tribute and revenue collectors travel forth and return safely, that the farmer tills, harvests, stores and markets his produce unafraid of pilferage; that the trader, merchant, and financier function and travel across the length and breadth of the realm unmolested; that the savant, sculptor, maestro, and mentor create works of Art, literature, philosophy, and astrology in quietude, that the architect designs and builds his vaastus without tension; that the tutor and priest teach and preach in peace; that the rishis meditate in wordless silence, that the doctor invents cures and medicines undisturbed; that the mason and bricklayer work unhindered , and that the mother and wife go about their chores and bring up children in harmony and tranquility; that the cattle graze freely without being lifted or stolen.”
Patliputra reposes each night in peaceful comfort, “O king, secure in the belief that the distant borders of Magadha are inviolate and the interiors are safe and secure, thanks only to the Mauryan army standing vigil with naked swords and eyes peeled for action, day and night in weather fair and foul, all eight praharas, (round the clock) quite unmindful of personal discomfort and hardship, all throughout the year, year after year.”
“While the citizenry of the state contributes to seeing that the state prospers and flourishes, the soldier guarantees it continues to EXIST as a state!! To This, man, O Rajyadhyaksha, you own a debt, please, therefore, see to it, on your own, that the soldier continuously gets his dues in every form and respect, be they his needs or wants, for he is not likely to ask for them himself.”

Then Kautilya, known also as Chanakya gave his king this blunt warning :

“The day – the soldier has to demand his dues, will be a sad day for Magadha, for then, you will have lost all moral sanction to be king!!”

Indeed the purpose of this petition is to bring forth this alarm to the nation; the soldiers are now demanding their dues.

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, July 26

Tears rolled down the cheeks of 75-year-old Gurbachan Kaur as she recalled the day when she got the news of her husband Harbhajan Singh’s martyrdom, who along with five others personnel was killed in the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

Gurbachan Kaur was present here today along with other widows of army-men, who attained martyrdom, to receive honour for being ‘Veer Nari’ from Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Jasbir Singh, on Kargil Vijay Diwas at Punjab State War Memorial.

She said she lived with her husband for only a year. “I got married in 1964 while my husband sacrificed his life in the war of 1965. I’ve lived all these years without him. I have no children, so I pass my time with my neighbour’s children telling them stories of brave martyrs,” she said, adding that once a soldier was martyred, their families cry for government attention.

Similar was the tale of Manjit Kaur, whose husband head constable Sukhdev Singh was killed by terrorists at the Jalandhar district courts in 1986.

Remembering his last day with her husband, she said, “It was April and he told me to get ready as we would go to the market after he returned. Since he got late, I went to the hospital where I was then working as a nurse.”

Manjit Kaur said she was shocked to see a huge crowd gathered in front of her house when she returned around 3 pm as she was not aware of the tragedy till late in the evening.

Though she is now leading a quiet life after both her children were provided jobs by the state government the only grudge she had against the government was that she was promised full salary of her husband as pension till his year of retirement but she was only getting Rs 20,000 even after so many years.

Another retired army-man from Jalandhar, Arjan Singh, who was associated with the Punjab Regiment and was present at the event, said these functions were just a formality by the state government while in reality no one bothered to know about the martyrs’ families and retired army personnel.

He said he used to get a pension of Rs 4,500 per month. However, it has been since long that he hasn’t received his pension, he added.

“For one month or two, if I am fortunate enough, I get my pension, while for other months all I have to do is wait,” he said.

Meanwhile, apart from Gurbachan Kaur and Manjit Kaur, other Veer Naris who were felicitated included Rajwinder Kaur, Harpreet Kaur, Urmila Paul, Harjinder Kaur, Pal Kaur, Kulwinder Kaur, Harcharan Kaur and Gurdeep Kaur

District Defence Services Welfare Officer Major Yashpal Singh (retd) welcomed the dignitaries at the function. He said it was a solemn occasion to pay respects to the brave soldiers for their heroic deeds.

Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, on Friday visited Drass sector. During the visit, he was briefed by the General Officer Commanding, ‘Fire & Fury’ Corps on the prevailing situation and operational preparedness in the Sector. General Bipin Rawat also interacted with army personnel deployed on the Line of Control (LC). The Army Chief was accompanied by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command.

While interacting with the army men, the COAS appreciated the tenacity and resolve of the soldiers guarding the borders in the harsh terrain and extreme weather conditions. Recalling the valour and sacrifice of troops who fought in Operation VIJAY in this sector in 1999, he exhorted all ranks to execute their assigned tasks with the same vigour and responsibility. He also called upon all ranks of the ‘Fire & Fury’ Corps to re-dedicate themselves towards upholding the values that the Army stands for, an army spokesman said in a statement issued to media.

Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 17

The International Court of Justice’s verdict on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case was a partial victory for both sides with a tilt towards India, if the claims and submissions both sides are taken into consideration. But at the end of the day, a retrial and subsequent judgment by the Pakistan courts will again bring the case back to life.

At the ICJ, India won consular rights that it had pressed for and got Jadhav’s execution stayed. The ICJ also frowned on Pakistan failing to read Jadhav his rights and neither informing India immediately upon his arrest not permitting Indian officials to meet him. Pakistan has taken comfort in the fact that the ICJ did not acquit or release Jadhav, thus rejecting the main Indian prayer.

Though the ICJ found Pakistan guilty of breaching its obligations under the Vienna Convention, it did not grant the main relief sought by India of seeking Jadhav’s release and transfer to India as well as seeking a retrial by a civilian court.

Both countries had upped their stakes in the case as is evident that India had six diplomats at the court, including an Ambassador, an Additional Secretary and the Joint Secretary in charge of the Pakistan Desk. Pakistan, too, had pressed into service five diplomats, including an Ambassador and the Director General (South Asia).

The Indian side was helmed by Senior Advocate Harish Salve along with two Indian advocates, while Pakistan fielded its Attorney General besides a battery of local and foreign lawyers.

At the outset, the ICJ made it clear that Jadhav should have been given consular access because there is no reference to spies being excluded in the Vienna Convention. Pakistan had based its denial of access on the understanding that the convention precludes visiting rights to spies. Due to limitations of ICJ’s jurisdiction in such cases, it did not go through the evidence against Jadhav to determine his guilt or innocence.

The Indian plea stood on four pillars: (i) violation of Vienna Convention had rendered the sentence by the Pakistan military court infructuous; (ii) restoration to the original position; (iii) restrain Pakistan from convicting Jadhav, and (iv) trial before civilian courts after excluding Jadhav’s confession. Due to jurisdictional issues, the ICJ could only decide whether Pakistan had breached Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.

The State cannot arbitrarily pick and choose from amongst similarly situated persons, a cut-off date for extension of benefits especially pensionary b

https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/classification-of-pensioners-by-providing-cut-off-date-146278

Permission given for construction of hangars, apron and link taxi track’