Chandigarh, January 11
A general court martial (GCM), which had earlier held the commanding officer (CO) of an armoured regiment guilty for allegedly misappropriating diesel and moving an official vehicle to a different station without due authority has increased the quantum of punishment.
The court increased Col K D Singh’s loss of service for the purpose of fixing pension from four years to five years and also imposed a penal fine equivalent to one month’s salary.
The officer had faced three charges under Sections 52 and 63 of the Army Act for misappropriation of 3,000 litres of diesel and 2,000 litres of petrol and moving Army vehicles to Delhi on two occasions. The court had in May last year held him guilty on two of the three charges.
The officer on his part had pleaded not guilty to any of the charges and had claimed vindictiveness on the part of certain senior officers. The defence also contended that some witnesses had deposed against the officer under duress. The officer had also claimed that relevant provisions of the Army Rules were not complied with during the course of the proceedings against him.
