27 Army officers may face court martial over illegal arms sale
Illegal arms sale has landed 27 Indian Army officers into trouble. They are likely to be court martialed if found guilty in the case. While this is a strong action that the army may take, by doing so it's sending out a strong message to its officers.
DISCIPLINARY ACTION has been initiated against 27 Indian Army officers over involvement in sales of illegal weapons. This is for the first time that such a large number of army officers have been dragged into such a case, and are likely to face court martial if found guilty. It all started with a PIL filed in Rajasthan High Court by an attorney accusing the concerned officers of buying weapons from ordinance factory in Jabalpur for personal use and then selling them off.
Following this, an inquiry was ordered into the case. The inquiry report confirmed that the 27 army officers of lieutenant and colonels rank had violated the Arms Act, which bans sale of non service pattern weapons without permission.
According to the report, the concerned officers misused their power to buy private weapons.
Presently, the case is being heard by the Supreme Court, which has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the accused. Whether the officers are court-martial or not will be decided after “legal vetting”.
Cases of illegal weapons‘ sale are quite common in India. In a similar incident in 2005, army officers posted in Bhutan, as part of Indian training team, bought weapons from private suppliers. After the case came to light, the Army in 2009 imposed a ban on import of arms and ammunitions by its officers when posted in Bhutan. A total of 25 Army officers were prosecuted in the case, but none was court-martialed.
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