NEW DELHI: The government is caught in a fix after one of the top contenders for the post of the next director-general (DG) of Coast Guard moved the Delhi high court against the defence ministry’s new promotion policy for the force.
The ministry of defence (MoD) will file a response through an affidavit in the court against the petition filed by additional director-general (ADG) of the western seaboard, Rajan Bargotra, said official sources on Tuesday.
The case comes at a time when a panel headed by defence secretary Ajay Kumar is finalising the list of successors to present Coast Guard DG Krishnaswamy Natarajan, who retires in December end.
The two senior officers from within the Coast Guard in the reckoning are Bargotra and D S Pathania — both posted at the headquarters in New Delhi. They have completed the requisite one year as ADGs.
Vice-Admiral rank officers from the Navy have earlier been posted as the DGs of the Coast Guard, the smallest of the four armed services under the MoD. But in recent years, officers from the Coast Guard cadre have made it to the top post.
In his petition, Bargotra has challenged the MoD’s new policy that makes it mandatory for a candidate’s annual confidential reports (ACR) of the previous five years to be considered for promotion. The policy of considering the ACRs of five years is the norm in the civil services, where only seniority is considered, and not in the armed forces, the petition contends. The controversy comes shortly after the MoD conducted an inquiry into the alleged forgery of records during a promotion board for selection of the second-highest rank in the Coast Guard.