New Delhi, April 12: A military court in Delhi has recommended dismissal of an IAF officer for shooting down a Mi-17 helicopter as it approached the Srinagar Air Force station led to the death of six IAF personnel and a civilian. The incident had taken place a day after the Balakot strike in 2019, when the Pakistani Air Force had launched a counter strike.

 

The findings of the General Court Martial (GCM) and the sentence against Group Captain Suman Roy Chowdhury, who was at the time the Chief Operations Officer of Srinagar Air Force Station, will be finalised after it is confirmed by the IAF Chief. As of now, there is a stay order on implementation of the GCM’s findings.

 

 

Group Captain Suman Roy Chowdhury was the chief operations officer at the Srinagar air force station when the incident took place during Pakistan's retaliation a day after the IAF conducted the pre-dawn air strikes on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp at Balakot on February 26, 2019.

 

Six IAF personnel, including the two pilots, and a civilian were killed when the Mi-17 returning to the airfield was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile fired by the air defence unit at the Srinagar air force station.

 

 

The court martial found the Group Captain 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 system switched off in violation of norms.

 

The court martial also recommended a "severe reprimand" against the then senior air traffic control officer, which will curtail his promotions, while acquitting him of four other charges.

 

 

There is, however, a stay on the execution of the verdict of the general court-martial by the Punjab and Haryana High Court due to an appeal filed by the officer. Moreover, as per military law, the verdict will also have to be approved or "confirmed" by the IAF chief.