NEW DELHI: The Principal Branch of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in New Delhi has ordered the Army on Wednesday to withhold all its promotion boards for the promotion of Major General officers to the rank of Lieutenant General. It has also imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh to be deposited into the Army Welfare Fund for not following orders.
Three Major General rank officers had approached the AFT when they were not considered for promotion to the rank of Lt. Generals during their first promotion board. The two Major Generals of the Infantry and one from Artillery approached the Army for their review board which was subsequently held but with the officers of their junior batches.
After this, the three officers approached the AFT questioning the board proceedings asking that their review board should have been with the old board without including the junior batch in it. Their second promotion board held later included the junior batch also in its consideration.
The AFT in its order had directed the Military Secretary (MS) Branch, which handles the career management of the officers of the Army, to set April 13, 2019, for their promotion board but MS branch got busy exploring the legal avenues and thus missed the date for board proceedings.
Army approached the AFT asking for two months additional time to hold the board. AFT did not accept this request and has ordered the Army to hold a promotion board on June 21 and apprise the court by July 3.
The Army has been told not to promote any new officer to the rank of Lt Gen till then. They have also been asked to deposit a sum of Rs 50,000 for each of the three officers with the Welfare Fund.