Corruption in Indian Armed Forces: 72 officers sold their weapons for profit - Army

[Quickgun Murugan]

8ak - Indian Defence News: 41 army officers face action for selling arms illegally

8ak: Indian defence Minister A.K. Antony has informed Rajya Sabha that administrative action has been initiated against 41 Army officers for allegedly selling non-service pattern (NSP) weapons in the black market in the border districts of Rajasthan.

The list of defaulters, which included one junior commissioned officer and four retired officers of the rank of a Maj General and Brigadier was provided by the District Collector of Sriganganagar to the concerned authorities. Officers can buy prohibited weapons, such as 9 mm pistols or .30 bolt action rifles, from ordnance factories at cheap prices for personal use. These are called NSP weapons.

As an interim measure, the officers have been asked to deposit their weapons back with Chairman Ordnance Depot (COD) Jabalpur. The image of the Indian Army has taken a beating in the recent past, due to increasing corruption in the armed forces. Recently, four top generals, which included the 33 Corps commander and the military secretary (MS) were found to be guilty in the preliminary findings of the Court of Inquiry (CoI) in a land scam near Sukna military base. Adding insult to the battered image of the Army, has been the open outburst of Lt Gen P.K. Rath’s brother against the army chief General Deepak Kapoor, wherein, he has said that the chief was well aware of the developments, which were taking place pertaining to the land.

 

[Vladimir79]

Perhaps the Ordinance Factory shouldn't sell officers NSP weapons at reduced price, hence getting rid of the problem.

 

[Rage]

Pathetic! The level of corruption in the armed forces being unearthed is approaching shocking proportions! I'm glad that it is at least being unearthed rather than allowed to rot.

Apparently, Antony has said that "action has been taken".

'41 army officers sell off their arms': India : India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.



Here's what the old f@rt said in office today:

"Administrative/disciplinary action has been initiated against 41 Army officers, a JCO and four retired officers for selling their NSP weapons in violation of the extant provisions along with notices for depositing their weapons back with the central ordnance depot at Jabalpur,'' said defence minister A K Antony, in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Moreover, 25 officers who were in possession of more rounds of ammunition than authorised for their NSP weapons have been censured, said the minister, noting that a court of inquiry (CoI) was held to look into the entire case. "



And let me quote to you what a serving army officer had to say about this on another webseite:

"Insofar as I can make out, the problem (legally speaking) is to do the rules regarding sale of Govt. property. If I am not mistaken, when the Govt. disposes off it's property at discounted rates to anyone (as in the case of issue of NSP firearms to serving/ retired personnel), and the buyer desires to further sell the item to someone else, he/ she is liable to share part of the profit arising from such a sale with the Govt. I don't have exact details on how exactly this profit is required to be split but it is certainly a requirement - irrespective of whether the item in question is a car, gun, table, chair, anything...

The basic problem is, that due to market imperfections (created by the Govt.'s policies), the price of firearms is ridiculously high, hence people get a bit greedy. If the price of firearms was realistic, there would be no problem, as there would be little incentive in the way of profit. This NSP system was in place even in my Dad's time, but the waiting lists were not as long and the profit from resale wasn't that much. Most officers wouldn't even bother with the hassle of applying for an NSP firearm to be issued, preferring in stead to buy a decent piece off the open market.

If the Govt. removes the market imperfections, and prices come back to realistic levels, such cases will disappear for good. History shows us, whenever Govt.s interfere with market forces, all manner of evil ensues - ban the import of gold, you get gold smugglers & related crime/ ban the import of electronics, ditto/ ban the sale of liquor in a state, you get bootleggers, moonshiners and related crime etc. etc. So why are we surprised if the current restrictions on firearms production/ sale/ purchase/ import are resulting at one end of the spectrum things like country made firearms being "legalised" through grey channels and being palmed off as genuine Husqvarnas or Berettas or at the other end army officers selling off their NSP firearms for a profit? The real criminal here is the Govt.

Cheers!
Abhijeet"

 

[Ray]

I am a bit confused.

NSP means Non Service Pattern.

9mm and others are service pattern and restricted bore and not sold to Army officers.

So?

If 9mm is not Service Pattern, then what is Service Pattern? A rocket Launcher?

 

[Singh]

Weapons have been sold in the district of SriGanganagar (and Hanumagarh) which besides bordering Pak Punjab also border Indian Punjab.

Some trivia about these districts

Residents of these districts are well known gun lovers and aficionados and carrying arms in public is considered a status symbol.

These 2 are the only districts with a Sikh majority outside of Punjab and have the distinction of sending the highest number of recruits of any district to the Indian army during wars.

 

[Flint]

^A case of procuring weapons for friends/relatives?

 

[bengalraider]

We should really have a more liberal arms law so that people can buy and sell arms legally, the vast majority of illegal arms owners(i know quite a lot of them in jharkhand and bihar, most bihari households have a rifle or two)would rather buy them legally. most of these men are not criminals but legitimate businessmen who wish to keep them for self protection(the police in the nation being what it is), what deters them from acquiring legal arms is the red tape &corruption associated with the process wherein millions of rupees change hands for each legal licence. i believe the military officers would have sold the weapons legally if they could do so at market price(not government fixed). what the GOI should do is set up a more lenient framework for keeping and selling arms easily(like the U.S and much of europe), while this will not stop gun related crime completely it will however help to control the supply of guns with the majority of illegal owners opting for legalization instead.

 

[Sabir]

To some extent corruption is there in case of satationary and household items too. In Army depotes all goods are subsidised. If you know any Army person or any employee of ordinance factory you can buy a TV, Refrigerator or washing machine via him much cheaper than available in market. He is allowed to buy any household item once in a year i.e if he buys a TV from depote he cant buy another TV from depote within one year. But he can buy other items which has not been purchased within one year. Seeing the vast arreys of products I can guess there is good scope of making money by just becoming a buying medium for outsiders. For stationery items there is no such restrictions I think. Just one has to be careful not to buy in very large quantity from same depote.

 

[Flint]

^That's true unfortunately. Low-level "corruption" has become commonplace. As a result the army has implemented ID card system for all army canteens to stop civilians from misusing the army subsidies. Still, a lot of "for army only" goods make their way into civilian hands.

 

[AJSINGH]

i dont get it why so much fuss about corruption in IA in media , dont they know that people who join IA are from the same society fromw hich people like Madhu Koda and Rajiv Gandhi are ,atleats in IA corruption cases are delt seriously resulting in court marchal but what about in civil , so many politican and IAS officers get off easily , why is media so serious about corruption IA ,why zero tolerance ,i agree corruption is bad in IA but such cases are rare

 

[Flint]

i dont get it why so much fuss about corruption in IA in media , dont they know that people who join IA are from the same society fromw hich people like Madhu Koda and Rajiv Gandhi are ,atleats in IA corruption cases are delt seriously resulting in court marchal but what about in civil , so many politican and IAS officers get off easily , why is media so serious about corruption IA ,why zero tolerance ,i agree corruption is bad in IA but such cases are rare

That's true of course, but that does not mean that we should "tolerate" corruption in IA just because the political class is corrupt.

Unfortunately you cannot court martial politicians. > Which is why I always maintain that India's politicians will only improve when the Judiciary undergoes some serious reforms..

 

[Sridhar]

Zero tolerance needed to stem Army rot

Zero tolerance needed to stem Army rot: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.


'Tainted' General goes on leave

'Tainted' General goes on leave- TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos

 

[Sridhar]

Indian land scandal spotlights military corruption


2010-01-22 08:40:00

A land scandal involving Indian generals has shaken public faith in the country's massive military at a time when unprecedented sums are being spent on modernising the armed forces.
Four high-profile generals face an official investigation into charges that they gave the go-ahead for a builder to acquire a 70-acre (30-hectare) plot of army land at a throwaway price in the Himalayan resort of Darjeeling.
Deepak Kapoor, chief of India's army, said he was left speechless by the allegations against the four-star officers, including Lieutenant General Avadhesh Prasad, one of the country's eight key military advisers.
"Such aspects dent the image of the nation and these aberrations need to be corrected," Kapoor told a news conference last week, adding that they also affected military morale.
The land scandal coincided with action last month against 41 officers who allegedly sold service weapons on the black market, confirmed Kapoor, who heads the world's fourth-largest military.
Experts such as retired lieutenant general Afsir Karim fear corruption in the higher echelons could affect national security.
"The system must reform itself because corruption now seems to be an accepted form at various levels and this will hurt India's readiness, especially for any big conflict such as a war with China," Karim warned.
"Besides, corruption gets in the way of modernisation and it blunts the credibility of the armed forces."
A string of eye-popping fraud cases has damaged the institution in recent years.
An army colonel seeking military honours as a route to promotion was sacked after he was caught faking gun battles with militants by sprinkling tomato ketchup on civilians, who were made to lie still on the ground in 2003.
Press coverage earned the disgraced officer the nickname "Ketchup Colonel" and led to a military investigation into other medal seekers.
A year later, a commander was arrested after he earned the sobriquet "Brigadier Booze" for selling subsidised military liquor. In 2008 a general faced a court martial for allegedly skimming combat ration funds.
More than 7,000 court martial proceedings between 2000 and 2006 -- a number of them relating to financial skulduggery -- point to poor discipline, analysts say.
Corruption "is having a serious impact on the psyche of India's armed forces," argued retired air marshal Kapil Kak. He pointed to arms deals as another problematic area of military activity.
Last June, India blacklisted seven firms including artillery maker Singapore Technologies and state-run Israeli Military Industries after police accused a defence ministry bureaucrat of taking bribes.
The step froze a 240-million-dollar Israeli arms contract and ended the army's dreams of acquiring modern artillery worth over a billion dollars from the Singaporean firm.


Indian land scandal spotlights military corruption

 

[plugwater]

No place for corruption in Indian Army: Antony

New Delhi Jan 31 (ANI): Defence Minister A K Antony on Sunday strongly condemned corrupt practices in the armed forces.

Interacting with the media after distributing awards to best parade contingents here, Antony said the government would not tolerate even a single instance of corruption in the armed forces.


"Already the army has started taking action. Now, I don't want to say anything. We must understand one thing that what happened in Sukhna or other areas, these are all aberrations," Antony said.

Antony's rection came just two days after Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor ordered court martial of former Military Secretary Lt. General Avadhesh Prakash.

Lt General Prakash who was one of the eight key advisors at the Army Headquarters was indicted by the Court of Inquiry (CoI) investigating the Sukhna Land Scam.

Commenting on the prevailing aituataion along the international border and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir Antony said: "We feel that even though there are continuous attempts from the enemies across the border for infiltration, but at the same time, on the whole, the situation in Kashmir is improving.

"By and large situation in Kashmir is much better now. The violence level still has come down," he added. (ANI)

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/01/31/noplace-for-corruption-in-indian-army-antony.html

 

[Sridhar]

Court martial holds lady Army officer guilty

Zeenews Bureau

Chandigarh: Major Dimple Singla, the first lady officer of the Indian Army to face court martial, was sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment and cashiered her from service for professional impropriety.

The verdict announced on Wednesday had found her guilty of abusing her position as a public servant by accepting a bribe for professional favours.

She was charged under Section 69 of the Army Act, read with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act; and under the Army Act Section 63 for acts prejudicial to court order and military discipline.

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Under the Section 63, she is accused to have suggested a defence lawyer to accused Havildar Chandran, who was facing a court martial and also for improperly visiting an Army officer — a defence officer in Chandran’s case — and asking him not to divulge details regarding the court martial proceeding to the media.

Major Dimple had allegedly abused her position by accepting a sum of Rs 10,000 from the Defence Counsel in a court martial case in which she was the Judge Advocate in November 2004.

However, the courts verdict is subject to verification by the convening authority.

The trial had started in April 2007 and witnessed a series of lengthy adjournments. She was arrested by the Army authorities on February 1, when she failed to attend the proceedings, but was later released on the orders of armed forces tribunal.

http://www.zeenews.com/news608454.html

 

[Armand2REP]

Major Dimple had allegedly abused her position by accepting a sum of Rs 10,000

Only an idiot would throw away their career for such a paltry sum.

 

[plugwater]

Maj Singla sentenced to 1 year in jail

Major Dimple Singla, the first woman officer in the Indian Army to face court-martialed, was on Wednesday night(March 4)sentenced to one year imprisonment for accepting bribes from a junior officer facing a murder charge in Dehradun in 2006.

Singla has been found guilty under Section 63 and 69 of the Army Act. The order was issued late last night in Ziratpur at the General Court Martial hearing which concluded yesterday with the conviction. The quantum of sentence was announced today.

Major Singla was then Judge Advocate General of the Indian Army and was hearing the case against Havildar Chandran (in the year 2005), and demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the Havildar.

The general court martial (GCM) - the first in India against a woman Army officer - commenced in Chandigarh on April 11 as Major (Retd) Dimple Singla prepared to defend herself against graft charges.

The courtmartial was recommended by an Army Court of Inquiry (COI) after discovering that Singla had sought money from the Army man.

She had faced similar allegations of seeking money from another Army man in Bathinda as well.

Earlier to this, Indian Air Force officer Anjali Gupta was dismissed from service in December 2005 by a GCM after she was accused of committing irregularities while in service.

Singla now has the right to file an appeal application before the Army commander of Western Command.

http://www.timesnow.tv/Maj-Singla-sentenced-to-1-year-in-jail/articleshow/4339809.cms

 

[anand_6869]

when land scams amounting to a few lakhs, sale of subsidized liquor worth only a few hundred rupees and scams amounting to a only a few thousand rupees are blown out of proportion by the media it strikes a blow to the morale of our soldiers when the average Indian minister has assets worth more than 6 crores and trillions of dollars of money in Swiss bank accounts traced to Indian politicians why is not the media focusing on the real criminals instead of focusing on an army officer who bought booze in bulk and made a few thousand bucks selling it to civilians while illicit liquor is being sold right under the nose of the police and ministers why only a few one of incidents of staged deaths gain such immense focus by the press and incidents of soldiers and top level officers falling in combat serving our country get only one liners or dont even get any mention in press reports why do stories of bollywood movies and cricketers get such high spots in prime time slots, but the service of our armed forces in countering terrorism and saving lives dont even get a mention in news broadcasts. Why is it that untraceable amounts of upto 2.3 trillion dollars of millitary expenditure in foreign countries do not get as hyped as a booze scam or land scam by the military in India

 

[EagleOne]

A retired officer from indian army said "corruption is every where in india but it is less when compared "

 

[edkaini753]

Perhaps, all the armed forces of every country is corrupt. That's not only the case with us.