Departing for the first time ever from precedent, the UPA government on Thursday overlooked senior-most Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha and appointed his junior Vice Admiral Rabindra Kumar Dhowan as the next Navy chief, 50 days after Admiral D K Joshi quit suddenly owning moral responsibility for two submarine mishaps that claimed 20 naval personnel’s lives in seven months.
“The government has appointed Admiral R K Dhowan as the Chief of the Naval Staff,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in a statement that unusually came early in the day within an hour of the government offices opening for work. Express had reported the likely appointment of Dhowan as Navy chief on March 13.
Though the government was tight-lipped on why it overlooked Sinha’s six-month seniority to 59-year-old Dhowan, it was obvious that Defence Minister A K Antony and the UPA government wanted to play it safe during parliamentary elections. Though seniority is not a laid down principle for appointment as chief, this is probably the first time in the Navy that an officer has been superseded. “The resignation of Admiral Joshi caused an unprecedented situation for the government,” explained a Defence Ministry official.
Minutes after he was named the 22nd chief of the world’s fourth largest maritime force, Dhowan assumed office and wore the four stars of the Admiral rank. The officers and men in the Naval headquarters in South Block seem to have accepted the superseding of Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, who is the Mumbai-based Western Naval Commander, and were present in full measure for a guard of honour on the lawns of South Block.
The government clearly seemed to be avoiding criticism by overlooking Sinha, under whose direct watch in Mumbai, several naval accidents took place, including the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak.
But the superseding is not likely to go down without generating noise, navy sources said, as the slighted senior-most naval officer’s course of action will be known soon. Eastern and Southern naval commanders Vice Admirals Anil Chopra and Satish Soni were also said to upset with the elevation of Dhowan, who has no experience of heading key fighting commands of the Navy and has been only in staff postings, pushing files.