Jammu, April 18
One of the senior-most officers in the operationally crucial Northern Command has proceeded on long leave over what is being construed as a clash of seniority.
Sources in the Northern Command Headquarters, Udhampur, reveal that the Chief of Staff (COS), Lieut-Gen P.C. Katoch, has been on leave for the past few weeks. “He had earlier gone on about 45 days leave and then again applied for another 45 days leave,” a senior officer said. “Given the circumstances, it indicates that he is unwilling to serve under the present Northern Army Commander,” he added.
According to sources, the COS is senior to the Northern Command’s recently appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Lieut-Gen P.C. Bhardwaj. The COS is subordinate to the GOC-in-C and is responsible for all administrative aspects of the command’s functioning.
General Bhardwaj had taken over as the GOC-in-C on March 1 this year after the earlier incumbent, Lieut-Gen H.S. Panag was moved to the Central Command.
General Katoch (IC-24006) was commissioned in 1969, whereas General Bhardwaj (IC-24178) was commissioned in 1970. In fact, General Bhardwaj is reported to have been General Katoch’s second-in-command when the later was commanding his unit.
General Katoch became Corps Commander (1 Corps, Mathura) in April, 2006, where as General Bhardwaj was appointed as a Corps Commander (14 Corps, Leh) in early 2007. General Katoch was moved to Northern Command in January this year.
Some Army officers, on the other hand, say that the officer who is selected as GOC-in-C first automatically supercedes other lieutenant generals. Seniority in service alone is not the sole deciding factor, they add.
Appointing a junior officer at a higher position has resulted in peculiar situations in the Army in the past. In the early 90s, the then Chief of Staff, Southern Command, Lieut-Gen Surinder Singh was senior to the GOC-in-C, Lieut-Gen Moti Dhar. This led to the Army in situ granting Lieut-Gen Surinder Singh status of the GOC-in-C. Consequently, the command had two officers of the rank of Army Commander with no chief of staff.
In the 80s, the Army ended-up having several vice-chiefs of army staff, even though there is provision for just one such post. Several principal staff officers at Army Headquarters, who hold the rank of lieutenant general but are lower in status to the vice-chief went to court when the government appointed a vice-chief who was junior to them. The case was reportedly withdrawn when all officers affected were given the status of the vice-chief.
