New Delhi: A General Court Martial (GCM) in Delhi has ordered the dismissal of Group Captain Suman Roy Chowdhury, who was the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Srinagar Air Force Station, for a missile fired on the Indian Air Force (IAF)’s own Mi-17 helicopter on February 27, 2019, during the period Pakistan Air Force had targeted some areas in J&K after the Balakot strike, reports The Tribune. The friendly fire resulted in the death of six Air Force officers and a civilian.IAF officials, however, said the findings of the GCM and the sentence were subject to confirmation by the Chief of Air Staff, reports the newspaper. On March 20, the Punjab and Haryana high court allowed the GCM to pronounce the findings against Group Captain Chowdhury but ordered that these must not be given effect till the disposal of the case, filed by the officers, seeking relief from disciplinary action.The high court is yet to dispose of the case, reports The Tribune.There was controversy about the accidental shooting down of the helicopter, which occurred on February 27, 2019, after the IAF kept the information about it under wraps, ostensibly because of the impending Lok Sabha elections. A report by Ajai Shukla said that the Court of Inquiry had “conclusively determined” that the Mi-17 V5 helicopter was brought down by friendly fire. Shukla said the IAF has been asked to “hold” the findings until after the elections.While the IAF denied pressure, it moved to take action against errant officers just two days after the final phase of voting for the elections.Those who died included pilots Squadron Leader S. Vashisht and Squadron Leader Ninand M., Sergeant V.K. Pandey, Sergeant Vikrant Sahrawat, Corporal Pankaj Kumar, Corporal D. Pandey and Kifayat Hussain Ganie, a civilian on the ground and resident of Budgam district.Group Captain Chowdhury had urged the GCM not to proceed with the pronouncement of the sentence till the case was in the high court. His counsel Captain Sandeep Bansal (retd) told The Tribune, “The Group Captain moved an application on April 5 for not proceeding with the pronouncement of the sentence till the matter was disposed of by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But on the advice of Judge Advocate, the GCM proceeded ahead. We will challenge it before the High Court.”Group Captain Chowdhury has been held guilty on five of the nine charges. He is held guilty of not obeying the general order issued by Air Headquarters, dated July 14, 2017, which required all aircraft operating north of latitude 3200 N to operate with Identification Friend or Foe (IFF). He permitted Mi-17 to get airborne from Srinagar without the IFF switched on. He is held guilty of assigning an inbound flying object to the missile unit at 10:10 am on February 27, 2019, at 23 km from the Srinagar base for engagement by the Mission Commander, Command and Control Unit of 2258 Squadron. Consequently, the assigned flying target, which was the IAF’s own helicopter Mi-17, was shot down by a Spyder missile at 10:14 am. The firing caused a loss of Rs 133.31 crore to the state.Wing Commander Shyam Naithani, who was the Senior Air Traffic Control Officer at that time, has been acquitted of four charges and has got a severe reprimand for one charge.
