A court martial has ordered the dismissal from service of the Group Captain who took the call to shoot down the IAF’s own Mi-17 V5 helicopter at Budgam around the time Indian and Pakistani fighters were engaged in an aerial skirmish along the Line of Control in Kashmir in February 2019. Group Captain Suman Roy Chowdhury was the chief operations officer at the Srinagar air force station when the incident occurred during Pakistan’s retaliation a day after the IAF conducted the pre-dawn air strikes on the Jaish-e-Muhammed training camp at Balakot on February 26 that year. There is, however, a stay on the execution of the verdict of the general court martial (GCM) by the Punjab and Haryana high court due to an appeal filed by the officer. Moreover, as per militarylaw, the verdict will also have to be approved or “confirmed” by the IAF chief. “The IAF chief will decide on the GCM’s recommendations only after the high court order,” a source said. Six IAF personnel, including the two pilots, and a civilian were killed when the Mi-17 returning to the airfield was shot down — militarily called a “blue on blue” incident due to the “fog of war” — by an Israeli-originSpyDer quick-reaction antiaircraft missile fired by the air defence unit at the Srinagar air force station, as reported by TOIearlier. The court martial found the Group Captain (equivalent to a Colonel in Army) guilty of five charges in the overall command and control failure. This included allowing the Mi-17 to get airborne earlier with its IFF (identity, friend or foe) transponder systemswitched off in violation of laid-down norms. The helicopter would have been identified as “friendly” by the radars if the IFF had been switched on. The court martial also recommended a “severe reprimand” against the then senior air traffic control officer, Wing Commander Shyam Naithani, which will curtail his promotions, while acquitting him of four other charges. Four other officers had earlier faced “administrative action” for the “friendly fire” incident. In October 2019, after the conclusion of the court of inquiry, the then IAF chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria had 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. ”
