NEW DELHI: While defending the termination of three IAF (Indian Air Force) officers, including a Wing Commander, for gross negligence, the Union government informed the Delhi high court that the unintentional firing of a BrahMos combat missile into Pakistan in March of last year had a negative impact on the nation's relations with the neighbouring country and caused a loss of 24 crore to the state exchequer.
The Centre claimed in its affidavit that the trial of the three officers by a court martial law was unnecessary, especially in light of the sensitive nature of the evidence in the record and the fact that the international community was eager to learn the significance of the practical details regarding the firing of the missile.
The Centre was opposing Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma's petition against his termination from service.
Wing Commander Sharma, the petitioner, contested the termination order made against him in accordance with section 18 of the Air Force Act of 1950. At the time of the incident, he was serving as an engineering officer.
The IAF officer said in his plea, which was submitted through attorney Jaitegan Singh, that he was given professional and practical training exclusively for tasks that are solely maintenance in nature, not for conducting missions.
He claimed that all of his tasks were completed in accordance with the Combat SOP controlling the operations and those operational factors alone were responsible for the incident.
The Centre stated that it would not disclose the evidence that has been submitted in response since doing so would compromise the state's security. It did, however, add that the court would be shown the Court of Inquiry's procedures in order to properly prove the petitioner's mistakes.
India unintentionally launched a BrahMos missile into Pakistan on March 9 of last year. This unusual incident was brought about by human error. India ascribed the incident to a technical failure during scheduled maintenance on March 11—two days after the unintentional launch.
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