The senior officer was due to be promoted as Commander-in-Chief but lost the promotion due to a new rule under which the force can take cognizance of minor punishments in the last ten years while deciding on their career progression
New Delhi: A Lieutenant General of the Indian Army has lost out on his chance to be promoted as a Commander-in-Chief due to a new rule under which the force can take cognisance of even minor punishments awarded to them in the last ten years while deciding on their career progression.
The senior officer was due to promoted as Army Commander and his name was even sent to the Ministry of Defence for promotion to the rank of Army commander. However, when his documents came up for scrutiny, it was found that the officer had been awarded a 'censure' allegedly for mishandling an official document, sources told MyNation.
However, the officer contended that despite the censure awarded to him a long time back, he had been promoted twice by the force to the rank of Major General and Lieutenant General by the force.
But the argument was not acceptable to the authorities concerned and he was overlooked for elevation to the rank of Army commander and another officer has now been promoted in his place, the sources informed.
The new policy regarding this was brought in by Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat late last year with an aim of putting in place a stringent disciplinary policy.
According to reports, the service will keep a record of even minor offences, including misconducts of at least 10 years, and in some cases, the entire service duration, if the condemnation has been awarded by the Chief or the Central government.
This is in wake of some officers found involved in cases of misbehaviour or un-officer like acts early in their careers and reaching high ranks. The disciplinary policy is divided into two: Court Martial for serious offences, including criminal acts, and Administrative Action in the form of a censure, which till now was recordable and non-recordable.
Non-recordable offences were minor in nature and were not part of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) or a dossier maintained for every officer. With the new policy in place, non-recordable offences are a thing of the past. Every censure will be part of records for a period of at least 10 years and will reflect in ACRs that could impact future promotions.
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