SC upholds dismissal of accused officers

BOTH OFFICERS WERE DISMISSED BY ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL IN OCTOBER 2005 OVER THEIR INVOLVEMENT

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the dismissal from service of two senior Navy officers who are facing criminal prosecution in the Navy War Room leak case.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra found no reason to interfere with the 2013 Armed Forces Tribunal order that rejected Commander VK Jha and Commander Virendra Rana’s case that the department could not have discharged them without issuing a show cause notice. The two argued they did not get a proper opportunity to represent their case

Justice Misra’s bench said the tribunal came to the conclusion after the members perused the official files. “We do not find it a fit case to intervene,” the bench said, rejecting the plea.

Jha and Rana were dismissed from Service in October 2005 after the Navy’s board of enquiry found both were involved in the alleged leak of over 7,000 pages of sensitive information from the Naval war room. The findings were corroborated by intelligence reports.

The officers moved the AFT, contending they should have been tried through court martial proceedings. They accused authorities of not conducting appropriate proceedings, a plea which was quashed by the AFT.

The tribunal held the matter was extremely sensitive and did not warrant issuance of a show cause notice. The decision of the government not to serve the two with a chargesheet was upheld.

Rana and Jha are also facing trial after the Navy handed over the entire matter to the CBI . The agency had arrested about seven persons including the two. A final report was filed against them, accusing the two of leaking information that had a direct bearing on national security. They have been charged under the Official Secrets Act.