IAF officer approaches Delhi High Court against defence ministry, Air Force Chief over BrahMos incident
IAF officer approaches Delhi High Court against defence ministry, Air Force Chief over BrahMos incident
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New Delhi: An Indian Air Force (IAF) officer has dragged the defence ministry and the Chief of Air Staff to court over the ‘accidental’ firing of a BrahMos missile into Pakistan last year.
Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma was fired along with two other officers – a group captain and a squadron leader – by the Indian Air Force (IAF) following the launch of a BrahMos missile that had crashed into a sparsely populated area in Mian Channu, Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan in March last year.
A Court of Inquiry had blamed the three IAF officers for failing to ensure that the combat connectors of all missiles loaded on the Mobile Autonomous Launcher (MAL) were disconnected, thus violating the combat SOP.
Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma was held responsible for failing to prevent the Mobile Autonomous Launcher (MAL) from launching the BrahMos missile, thus causing the accidental firing.
According to a Times Now report, Wing Commander Abhinav Sharma has claimed that the Court of Inquiry did not allow him to defend himself and has approached the Delhi High Court against the ruling.
The IAF officer has claimed that he had been posted in the squadron as an engineering officer and his duties only required him to provide professional and practical training for maintenance duties.
He also said that he did not impart training on matters regarding operational conduct, which was the responsibility of the commanding officer and the operations officer.
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