Delhi High Court Directs Indian Army to Reevaluate Retired Major General's Eligibility for Lieutenant General Promotion

According to a report by The India Express, the Delhi High Court has instructed the Indian Army to reassess the case of a retired Major General who was denied a promotion because of a reprimand related to the loss of classified information from his laptop. The court has ordered the reconsideration for his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General.

The directive was issued by a division bench consisting of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur, mandating that Maj Gen H Dharmarajan, who retired on January 31, 2024, be reviewed for the notional promotion to Lieutenant General.

If found suitable for the promotion, the court stipulated that the retired officer should be granted notional promotion and rank, with adjustments in his pension based on this notional seniority, but without any back pay. This decision was outlined in the court's order.

The bench identified an error by the Army Special Selection Board (SSB), which factored in the reproof given to the officer when considering his promotion, an action the board was not authorized to take.

The court noted that the reproof was non-recordable and should not have been presented to the SSB. The selection process should have been based solely on the appropriate materials and not influenced by the reproof, which the policy dictates should not be included. The court deemed the denial of promotion based solely on the reproof as unjust and arbitrary.

Maj Gen Dharmarajan, who was commissioned into the 3 Engineer Regiment on December 20, 1986, held command of the 25 Infantry Division in Jammu and Kashmir from December 2018. He was scheduled for consideration for promotion to Lt General in June 2020. On July 25, 2019, he received a show-cause notice citing a violation of the Cyber Security Policy due to a breach from his official laptop, resulting in the loss of sensitive data.

The notice indicated that the Major General did not adhere to the instructions from the Directorate General of Military Operations, as he continued using a Windows operating system on his office laptop instead of the Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS).

It was further detailed that on February 21, 2019, he opened a phishing email titled “EoMA Post Republic Day Gallantry Awards 2019” from a suspicious source on his personal email, leading to malware installation and subsequent data loss.

The Competent Authority, upon reviewing the General's response, found him guilty of minor procedural faults, dismissing all serious charges, and issued a 'Reproof' via a letter dated September 17, 2019, to counsel him.

The High Court highlighted that a Reproof serves as a non-recordable warning intended to address minor misconduct or errors. It is a form of communication from the Competent Authority to the officer, signifying disapproval or points of improvement without reflecting in the officer's service dossier.

The court observed from the SSB proceedings that the petitioner's merit was downgraded because the board improperly considered the reasons behind the Reproof while evaluating his profile for promotion to Lieutenant General.

The bench emphasized that while the Selection Board has the discretion to assess officers' merit for promotion, this discretion cannot be exercised arbitrarily or contrary to policy. The court noted that the reliance on the Reproof by the Selection Board compromised the selection process.

The court clarified that its orders do not entitle the petitioner to seek reinstatement or actual post-retirement pay but only provide for the rank and pension adjustment.