Sunday, February 20 2005 15:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The controversy over promotions to the ranks of Air Marshal will feature in the Supreme Court tomorrow (Feb 21, 2005) when Solicitor General (SG) G E Vahanvati, who examined the fresh list of promotees, will brief it about new Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal S P Tyagi's views on the issue.

Vahanvati had held extensive meetings with Tyagi and the Defence Secretary during the last two weeks over the list of four Air Marshals selected by the Special Promotion Board on the directions of the Apex court.

"Do not expect me to divulge what I would submit before the Court on Monday. But, I have held extensive discussions with the Air Chief and the Defence Secretary on the issue and would apprise the Court as to how the decision was taken," he told sources in New Delhi.

The Court on Feb 7, 2005 had asked the Solicitor General to scrutinise the promotion list drawn up by the Air Force for Air Marshals as the new Board confirmed the recommendations made earlier denying promotion to Air Vice-Marshal Harish Masand which had triggered off a major controversy.

"Whether it was a coincidence or deliberate act, the four promoted earlier to the rank of Air Marshal under the old policy, have again made it," the Court had observed.

To make sure that it was a coincidence and not a deliberate act, the Court had referred to SG for a "close examination" of the issue within two weeks while asking him to consult Air Chief Marshal and the Defence Secretary.

The Court, which perused the freshly drawn up list after a re-evaluation, had said it was noticeable that the Board markings "has been considerably changed" and the "net result was that the promotion list remains unaltered".

On December 13, it had directed the Air Force Special Promotion Board (SPB) to re-evaluate within three weeks the promotion of six Air Vice-Marshals to the rank of Air Marshals as per the 2004 promotion policy and submit the report in a sealed cover.

Under the old promotion policy, out of a total of 600 marks, a candidate used to be graded from 480 marks for career and 120 for Board interview. Under the new policy, 570 marks were for career while 30 for the Board.

SPB had reconsidered afresh cases of Air Vice-Marshals Masand, T S Chhatwal along with A D Joshi, J S Gujaral, F H Major and A K Singh, the latter four being promoted to the rank of Air Marshals by the SPB in 2003.

In the 2004 promotion policy, 95 per cent of the marks were awarded for merit and five per cent were reserved for the Board for the purpose of grading the officer. However, the 2002 policy had kept it to 80:20 ratio giving discretion of the Board a major role in high-level promotions.