Review promotion policy for officers in 'minor corps' to ensure fairness, AFT tells Defence Ministry
Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, October 13
The Armed Forces Tribunal has directed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to review the policy of utilisation of vacancies when officers from the ‘minor corps’ in the Army are inducted into the general cadre.
The Tribunal has asked the ministry to issue necessary amendments in order to ensure that selection-based vacancies available to the minor corps are retained with the corps and are available to the officers of the corps for a fair consideration of promotion. This exercise is to be completed before the next selection board is held.
Acting upon a petition filed by a Brigadier from the Army Aviation Corps, who was not considered for promotion to the rank of Major General and consequently retired as a Brigadier, the Tribunal observed that considering the limited vacancies of selection-grade ranks available in minor corps, the current policy of utilising such vacancies by officers inducted into the general cadre results in officers remaining in the minor corps being denied a fair consideration for promotion due to lack of a vacancy, which requires a review and amendment.
After another Brigadier from the Army Aviation was promoted and inducted into the general cadre in May 2020, the Aviation Directorate initiated a case in November for allotment of an additional vacancy of Major General for Aviation Corps. It was approved by the MoD within the overall authorised vacancies for that year as an interim measure till the next selection board took place.
The Tribunal observed that unless a second vacancy of Major General is permanently available to the Army Aviation, this issue will again surface when the next aviation officer is inducted into the general cadre. “It is therefore imperative that the overall policy on availability vacancies in minor corps is reviewed and appropriate measures put in place as part of the policy to cater for such a contingency, so that no batch remains without a fair consideration for promotion,” the Tribunal’s bench comprising Justice Rajendra Menon and Lt Gen PM Hariz ruled.
The Tribunal ruled that the petitioner had been denied fair consideration for promotion due to the inability of the MoD and the Army to timely ensure the availability of a requisite vacancy to consider his batch for promotion within the Army Aviation Corps and the peculiar circumstances arising out of the implementation of the said policy.
The minor corps includes the Intelligence Corps, Army Education Corps, Army Aviation Corps, Judge Advocate General’s Department, Remount and Veterinary Corps, Military Farms and Army Postal Service, where the overall strength of officers and other ranks is very less as compared to other arms and services.
Functionally, the officer cadre in the Indian Army is divided into general cadre and non-general cadre. General cadre appointments are primarily tented by officers from the combat arms, but suitable and meritorious officers from other arms are also inducted.
While the policy on calculation of vacancies for selection boards for major corps was changed in 2013, vacancies in minor corps continued to be based on functional requirements due to low batch strength and limited vacancies which are dependent on actual retirement or chain promotions.
