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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 10
Lt Gen Sagat Singh, the hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak war and the man at the front to repulse a Chinese attack in 1967 in Sikkim, will be remembered on his 100th birth anniversary.Born on July 14, 1919, Lt Gen Sagat Singh died on September 26, 2001. The Jaipur-based South Western Command has planned to commemorate the event as mark of respect to the General. Lectures are planned in schools at Chittorgarh, Bikaner, Dholpur, Jhunjhunu and Jaipur between July 8 and 13. The command will unveil an epitaph about the General. Functions will culminate on July 14 at Jaipur.
His efforts in 1967 are well recorded. A book, ‘History of the Conflict with China. 1962’, produced by the History Division of MoD and released for restricted circulation in March 1993, narrates the 1967 incident vividly. The book reads: “The Chinese troops suddenly opened machine gun fire on September 11, 1967, inflicting heavy casualties. The GOC 17 Div — the redoubtable Maj Gen Sagat Singh — blasted the Chinese positions with 5.5 medium guns. The Chinese agreed to a ceasefire on September 16. They had lost 400 men, killed or wounded, compared to Indian loss of 65 killed and 145 wounded.” In the 1971 war, Lt Gen Sagat Singh was heading the 4 Corps and led the Army’s famous heli-drop across Meghna river to pave the way for capture of Dacca (the then name of Dhaka) in East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh.In an audacious move, nearly 2,500 men were moved across the Meghna river to the gate of Dhaka in helicopters. The city was well defended by rivers on two sides, so crossing over in helicopters was decisive. There were only five Mi-4 helicopters that carried 17 troops each, five more than their capacity. Hundreds of sorties had to be carried out despite the copters being hit by small firearms.
Chamba: After eight months, the Saach Pass on the Chamba-Bairagarh-Killar highway, which links the Pangi tribal valley with the rest of Chamba district, was reopened for light vehicles on Saturday.
The HP PWD, Tissa Division, Executive Engineer Harsh Puri said the Saach Pass remained closed due to snowfall during the winter every year.
The PWD workforce removed the snow at Saach Pass at an altitude of about 14,500 feet, Puri said, adding that about 40 feet snow rocks had to be cut with heavy machinery.
However, efforts were still underway to cut the glaciers from both sides, widening the highway for the plying of heavy vehicles. OC
The now-formed third class of disabled soldiers, in all probability, may have opted out of service due to the limited terms of service the medical category offered them or purely out of soldierly pride not allowing themselves acceptance of any concessions.
Maj Gen Amrit Pal Singh (Retd)
Military commentator
The e-space is abuzz with opinions and interpretations of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) circular of June 24 on the latest ruling on taxation of disability pension to the armed forces personnel. The furore it has created in the military and veteran circles is not something that the prudent should ignore or relegate as background chatter.
The circular in question refers to the Income Tax Act 1922 and notification number 878-F of March 1922, among other sections and instructions, issued from time to time. The missive clarifies that income tax exemption would be available to all armed forces personnel (irrespective of rank) who have been invalided out of such service on account of bodily disability attributable or aggravated by such service.
In the last paragraph, the letter drops the bombshell by stating that such tax exemption will be applicable only to those personnel who have been invalided out of service on account of bodily disability attributable to or aggravated by such service and not to personnel who have been retired on superannuation or otherwise.
The rigours of military service are known to all and there is no questioning the extreme conditions of service that obtain in various facets and areas where personnel are deployed in the defence of the country. The very fact that the law caters for disability is proof of the recognition of the need to compensate a serviceman or woman for the bodily disability attributable or aggravated by her or his service.
The latest circular now intends to clarify the applicability of taxes on the disability pension and, in effect, creates different classes of disability for purpose of taxation. A few at a glance are:
First, the disability that causes a soldier to be invalided out of service as the disability was so severe that they could not serve in the forces due to it.
Second, the disability that is caused due to service but the individual is yet capable of serving (albeit under restrictions due to medical reasons) in what is called a ‘medical category’ in military parlance.
The third class now formed is that of those personnel who had attributable or aggravated disability and chose to leave service prematurely.
The now-formed third class of disabled soldiers, in all probability, may have opted out of service due to the limited terms of service the medical category offered them or purely out of soldierly pride not allowing themselves acceptance of any concessions when they expect the troops they command to undertake all tribulations. Their disability in no measure is less attributable as, for example, the case of a soldier deployed in the icy heights of Siachen who suffers from pulmonary oedema and is downgraded to a medical category that does not allow him to serve in extreme areas thereafter — he has an option to remain a medical category for all of his service and feel like a ‘second grade’ soldier for no fault of his or to leave service honourably. These soldiers are no less deserving of disability pension and taxing it now could have ramifications on risk-taking decisions by soldiers. There is a need by the government to look at the larger picture.
However, it is the second category now created by the circular that has the military fraternity up in indignation. The armed forces look after their own and especially their heroes who are incapacitated due to operations and even in peace time service. The case of a vehicle mechanic who lost his limb due to a vehicle toppling on him when he was repairing it is no less attributable than that of a soldier who gets shot by the enemy or terrorist and is termed a ‘Battle Casualty’. These individuals are considered on a case-to-case basis and permitted to serve their full tenure. It is a matter of pride that some of such heroes have risen to top ranks and are held in deep regard by the military fraternity.
The new condition set out in the circular seemingly denies the exemption of tax to the disability pension of these soldiers.
The case of General Ian Cardozo who self-amputated his leg during the 1971 operations is a sterling example of raw courage by an officer who served with great pride and who is a hero to this day. But the Indian government now will tax his sacrifice. How prudent is this recovery of tax from the disability pension of a person who never thought about severing his own limb for the security of the country? His words ‘There is not apathy from the bureaucratic circles but antipathy’reverberate profoundly amongst the military circles and will find resonance in many a self-respecting patriotic Indian.
The average citizen needs to be aware of the ever-increasing animosity being generated by seemingly innocuous steps initiated by the government. The recent news of the government seeking resignations of commanders of military bases that were attacked by terrorists has been reportedly identified as a selective leak from the ministry as the recommendation to this effect was earlier too resisted and disposed of by the armed forces. Was the leak intended to rake up the issue afresh with the new Defence Minister?
Similar is the case of the orders of opening of cantonment roads by a missive from the ministry which created a messy debate with accusations of political favours and selective decision-making aggravating the fissures in a strained civil bureaucracy-military relationship.
The present CBDT circular seems to be yet another instance in the same vein as with numerous other pinpricks such as OROP and ration money disallowment and its subsequent reinstatement.
The cases of tax evasion in all other spheres of economic and financial activities are something which needs to keep the attention of the tax lawmakers. It is not without ample reason that the present circular has been initiated to plug loopholes being exploited in the taxation of disability pension in cases of misrepresentation and misuse by the military hierarchy but such cases must be dealt with departmentally and applying such a broad-brush instruction needs to be well thought out.
The armed forces, on their part, have to clearly differentiate those cases of disability attributable to and aggravated by military service and unambiguously lay down the criteria for grant of disability pension. Once the disability is granted, it must be honoured by bureaucrats and ministries alike as a service to the nation which must not be taxed.
NEW DELHI: There will be no compromise on the issue of defence preparedness on account of lack of resources, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh assured the Rajya Sabha on Monday, while replying to a question on defence allocation.
MOHD ZAKIR/HT PHOTODefence minister Rajnath Singh arrives at Parliament House for the budget session in New Delhi on Monday.
The minister informed the House that the government will not allow any adverse impact on defence preparedness on account of fund constraints.
“We have taken precaution that there is no shortcoming on the country’s defence preparedness in any way by way of budget constraints. We will not compromise on India’s defence preparedness,” he said.
Congress’s Anand Sharma had asked the minister whether it is a fact that the requirements for capital acquisition of the Indian Armed Forces have not been fully met and the budgetary allocations have been declining factoring in inflation. “The actual increase of the Defence Budget, as per the Report, the recent Report, submitted to Parliament by the Standing Committee on Defence, was only 0.75%,” Sharma said.
In reply to another supplementary question, Singh said in absolute terms, the defence budget has increased in the past few years. In 2019-20, he added, onethird or 32.19% of the total capital expenditure of central government is being spent on defence which is the highest among all other central ministries.
The minister also denied that there is under-utilisation of funds in the sector, or there is a lag in modernisation of the sector.
“As far as the question of under-utilisation of budget is…now this question does not stand. Whatever budget is allocated to us, we have utilised it more than 100%,” Singh said.
To a question on whether bureaucracy is stalling purchases, the minister said there are no procedural delays as powers [for acquisition] have been transferred to forces now.
Among the ones who donned olive green, 382 are Indian while 77 are from friendly foreign countries; of the Indians, maximum 72 GCs belong to Uttar Pradesh and 33 to Punjab
DEHRADUN: As many as 459 Gentleman Cadets (GC) passed out of India Military Academy in Dehradun on Saturday. Among them, 382 were Indian while 77 from friendly foreign countries. Among the Indians, 72 were from Uttar Pradesh while among the foreign GCs, maximum 45 were from Afghanistan.
HT PHOTO■ Gentleman Cadets celebrate their commissioning in the Indian Army at IMA in Dehradun on Saturday.
THE IMA HAS SO FAR GIVEN 61,685 YOUNG MILITARY OFFICERS TO THE COUNTRY AND FRIENDLY FOREIGN NATIONS
The passing out parade was reviewed by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South Western Command, Lt Gen Cherish Mathson. Addressing the GCs at IMA’s Chetwode drill square, he urged them “To be always ready to protect the nation and its constitution from the threats, including insurgents and terrorists.”
Among the GCs, there were two identical twin brothers and two childhood friends who redefined brethren and camaraderie by passing out together from IMA as newly commissioned officers of Indian army.
Childhood friends Sudarshan and Varun were a little upset that now they would have to part their ways after 11-year long journey together.
Sudarshan who hails from Karnataka’s Bijapur district met his friend Varun, a resident of Karnataka’s Raichur district when they got enrolled in Sainik School, Bijapur.
“We both met in class 6 and became friends. Then eventually we became bench-mates from class 6 to class 12. After that we prepared for National Defence Academy (NDA) together and got enrolled there in 2015,” said Sudarshan.
Varun, who claimed that he is the first army officer from his district in the last 17 years, said, “As we were together during schooling, both of us were motivated to join the army. However, now that the training is over, we have to part due to postings in separate regiments.”
He, however, remained hopeful that they would meet again and said, “We are hopeful that we will get a posting in the same area in future.”
uwahati, June 7
Kargil war veteran Mohammed Sanaullah, who was sent to a detention camp in Assam after a tribunal declared him a “foreigner”, was granted bail by the Gauhati High Court today.
A Division Bench heard a writ petition, along with an interlocutory application, and granted bail to Sanaullah on two local sureties of Rs 20,000 each.
The Bench ruled that Sanaullah cannot leave Kamrup district, of which he is a resident, without the permission of its Superintendent of Police. It also issued notices on the respondents, including the Union of India, the Assam Government and the Foreigners’ Tribunal, Boko.
Sanaullah is likely to be released from the detention centre tomorrow. Sanaullah, who retired from the Army in 2017, was awarded the President’s Medal in 2014. — PTI
Aman Sood
Tribune News Service
Patiala, June 4
A Samana family has rushed to Assam after learning that their son, 28-year-old Indian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Mohit Garg, was among 13 aboard the AN-32 military transport plane that went off the radar yesterday.
The pilot’s family, including father Surinder Garg and brother Ashwani, are hoping against hope as the chances of survival seem to be fading.
Surinder Garg and pilot’s uncle Rishi Garg have rushed to Assam to be with their daughter-in-law Astha, who is in a state of shock.
“All we can do is hope for a miracle. He had visited us a few months ago and was supposed to visit us later this month,” says Ashwani.
The Flt Lt’s friends describe him as a brilliant student who got selected to the National Defence Academy 12 years ago after clearing his higher secondary. “He made our small town proud. We hope to hear something positive,” say his friends. “Mohit married Astha, currently posted in UCO Bank in Assam, last year. We are worried about her as well,” says Ashwani.
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 5
The Army has handed “loss of seniority” by six months to Major Leetul Gogoi as punishment for “fraternising” with a local woman in Srinagar last year and for “being away from the place of duty while in an operational area”.
He will also be posted out of Kashmir as his 30-month tenure with Rashtriya Rifles has ended. Maj Gogoi had hit the headlines after he tied a man in front of a jeep, purportedly as a shield against stone-pelters, during polling for the Srinagar Lok Sabha byelection on April 9, 2017.
The court martial proceedings against Maj Gogoi were completed in March and the punishment needed to be ratified by the Army headquarters, which has been done now, sources said. The punishment is classified as “severe reprimand”. The six-month loss of seniority will apply for life.
As this period will not be counted towards his service, he will now get lesser pension on retirement. He will not get the next rank of Lt Colonel as per schedule on completing 13 years in service. This will happen six months later and he will, in turn, become the juniormost officer in his batch.
Maj Gogoi was posted with the RR in March 2016 and posted out in October 2018. Since then, he had been attached with the Srinagar headquartered “Victor Force”, pending inquiry.
The Major was detained by the J&K Police on May 23 last year from a Srinagar hotel along with a local woman and another soldier. The detained woman was 19 years old and had gone with the officer of her own volition, Jammu and Kashmir Police had said. Hence, no police case was made out. However, the Army rules did not allow Maj Gogoi to be let off without punishment.
During the court martial proceedings, the woman expressed her unwillingness to depose. The court martial process against Maj Gogoi’s driver Sameer Malla, who was facing charges of unauthorised absence from the unit, has been completed. He has been given a “severe reprimand”.
Immediately after the incident came to light last year, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had said exemplary punishment would be given to Maj Gogoi if he was found guilty of any offence.
