Singla GCM: ‘Convening order not tampered with’

In the General Court Martial trying Maj Dimple Singla for professional impropriety

In the General Court Martial trying Maj Dimple Singla for professional impropriety, the court today overruled the plea of the defence that the convening order issued by General Officer-in-Commanding (GOC), 2 Corps, Lt Gen V K Singh was tampered with.

The defence had on this basis challenged the jurisdiction of the court to try Maj Singla. The GOC had issued the orders for convening the GCM with Commanding Officer of Air Defence Regiment Col Sanjeev Jose as the court’s presiding officer and Lt Col Harish Mitra as the Judge Advocate by order dated March 29 this year. Defence counsel Col SK Aggarwal (retd), in support of his argument, produced two chargesheets signed by Lt Gen V K Singh, who had written date against his signature in his own hand.

The handwriting of the dates on the chargesheet and the convening order also did not match. Similarly, the handwriting of the dates on the first and the second page of the chargesheet did not match.

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In reply to the defence’s contention, the prosecution denied tampering with the convening order. “We had ascertained the document from the records of GOC, 2 Corps, and it was verified that the order was not tampered with,” said the prosecutor.

The Judge Advocate gave detailed legal advice giving option to the court. The court, after having heard the defence, prosecution and Judge Advocate, overruled the objection. The court has been adjourned till tomorrow. Maj Dimple Singla is accused under Section 69 of the Army Act read with Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. It was alleged that she took Rs 10,000 from Ambrish Sharma, defence counsel of Rajiv Malik of 72 Armoured Regiment.