Marching Orders For Group Captain Amid Shooting Down ‘Friendly’ Copter After Balakot Strike

A General Court Martial (GCM) instituted by the Indian Air Force has ordered the dismissal from service of the Group Captain Suman Roy Chowdhury, who took the call to shoot down on friendly Mi-17 V5 helicopter in Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir, around the time when Indian and Pakistani fighters were engaged in an aerial skirmish along the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir in February 2019.

Court marshal ordered the dismissal of Group Captain

The Group Captain was the chief operations officer at the Srinagar air force station when the incident occurred during Pakistan’s dog fight a day after the IAF conducted the air strikes on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp at Balakot on February 26 that year.

Despite the order announced by the court-martial, there has been a stay on the execution of the verdict by the Punjab and Haryana high court amid the appeal filed by the officer. According to military law, the verdict has to be confirmed and approved by the IAF chief.

A source said, “The IAF chief will decide on the GCM’s recommendations only after the high court order.”

During the shot down, six IAF personnel on board the chopper and a civilian on the ground were killed in the crash.

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Chowdhury guilty of 5 charges

The court martial found the Group Captian guilty of five charges amid his overall command and control failure. This included allowing the Mi-17 to get airborne earlier with its IFF (identity, friend or foe) transponder system switched off in violation of laid-down norms.

Moreover, the court martial has recommended a ‘severe reprimand’ against the then Wing Commander Shyam Naithani, while acquitting him of four other charges. Four other officers had earlier faced “administrative action” for the “friendly fire” incident.’

After the conclusion of the court of inquiry in October 2019, the then IAF chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria said, “It was our fault. It was our missile that hit the Mi-17. It was a big mistake. Two officers will face disciplinary action (court-martial). Necessary steps are being taken to ensure such things do not reoccur in the future. ”