33 years after ignominious exit, SC orders honourable farewell for former IAF pilot

NEW DELHI: Noting that it is the honour which is the most important thing for a defence personnel, Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that a septuagenarian former Indian Air Force pilot, who had to face an ignominious exit from the service 33 years back, be now given a farewell with honour as his dismissal was arbitrary and in violation of law.After fighting a protracted legal battle over 33 years, the officer got his honour restored with SC holding his termination illegal and directed the Centre to grant him 50% of salary and allowances from 1993 till the date of his retirement from service and all promotional and pensionary benefits.“Justice demands that the ignominy with which the appellant had to survive more than three decades is obliterated, the wrongful termination of his service be revoked and his honour restored… The order of dismissal dated Sept 22, 1993 stands set aside. Appellant having since crossed the age of superannuation, he cannot be reinstated in service. In law, however, he is entitled to claim all consequential service benefits which would have accrued to him, had he not been fastened with such illegal order of dismissal,” a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and K V Viswanathan said.“Restoration of honour remains the foremost concern of defence personnel. We restore it with the direction that on a date to be fixed by the Chief of Air Staff, the appellant shall be signed off in the normal manner he would have otherwise been entitled to, but for the order of dismissal,” the bench said. Sqn Ldr R Sood was ordered by his senior to throw a drunken driver out of campus and following the order Sood took him to a desolate place and later a dead body was found there. He was tried in a criminal court but got discharged as there was no evidence against him. However, he was court martialed resulting in his dismissal in 1993.