Chandigarh, February 2
The Army has ordered a court of inquiry (COI) against the head of its legal department, a Major-General, it is learnt. The inquiry was ordered yesterday after a preliminary one-man inquiry established that there was substance in several allegations of professional impropriety levelled against Maj-Gen Nilendra Kumar, the Army’s Judge Advocate General (JAG).
Chief of Staff Central Command, Lieut-Gen Gautam Dutt, has been detailed as the COI’s presiding officer, sources said. This is for the first time that a formal inquiry has been initiated against the head of the Army’s legal department.
The Army headquarters has declined to issue an official comment on the matter. Official sources said the COI was ordered on the directions of the Chief of the Army Staff. There are also reports from Army headquarters suggesting that the Army has given the JAG a option to put up his papers instead of facing action.
The JAG is the Army’s senior-most legal officer and is renders legal advice to the Army Chief on various matters pertaining to the functioning of the force. All disciplinary matters, including trial by courts martial, also fall under the jurisdiction of the JAG.
The Army had initiated a one-man inquiry, conducted by Lieut-Gen Venugopal, commandant of the EME College, against General Nilendra Kumar. It his directions on the inquiry report forwarded to the Chief of Army
Staff in January, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lieut-Gen T.K. Sapru had recommended initiation of disciplinary action against the JAG or convening a full-fledged court of inquiry.
Among the allegations levelled against the JAG are misrepresenting facts to obtain membership of the Bar association, to which he is not entitled being a serving officer, sources said.
It was also alleged that as a captain he had faced a summary trial in the Eastern Command and was awarded a reprimand. He had got the verdict wrongfully set aside by the GOC-in-C, Central Command later although only the GOC-in-C Eastern Command was authorised to set aside.
He is also alleged to have used his official residence to run commercial activities by selling books authored by him. Showing himself on duty while on leave and availing concessional rates of accommodation in government establishment, maintaining a web-site without permission are other allegations against him.
Earlier, a petition had been filed in the Delhi High Court, which had challenged the validity of General Nilendra’s law degree.
The aforementioned allegations were also raised in the petition. A Division Bench of the court had ruled in favour of the General’s law degree, but the judgment did not comment on other allegations.
