New Delhi, February 5
After facing a 10-month-long probe, senior Naval officer Commodore Sukhjinder Singh will be sacked from service for his "illicit" relations with a woman while he was posted in Russia to supervise the refit of the sea-borne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

"He (Singh) will be discharged. He will not be in service now," Defence Minister AK Antony said this during a function at the Hindon air base today. Commodore Sukhjinder Singh was posted to Russia for three years - 2005 to 2007 - and his key job was to ensure smooth re-fit of the aircraft carrier that the Indian Government is buying from Russia. New Delhi finally agreed to pay $2.34-billion for the second-hand aircraft carrier in February 2010. The aircraft carrier was originally bought by India in early 2004 for $974 million and rechristened INS Vikramaditya.

During his posting the Commodore got involved with a Russian woman. His photographs with the woman surfaced in March last year. It is still not clear as to what impact did Commodore Sukhjinder Singh have on the pricing of the deal and also if the Russian woman was spy. Singh was posted as the Indian warship production superintendent overseeing Gorshkov's refit in Russia.