Post-Balakot Disaster: IAF Sacks Group Captain For Mi-17 Friendly Fire Incident That Killed Seven

A General Court Martial (GCM) in Delhi has ordered the dismissal of Group Captain Suman Roy Chowdhury, who served as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Srinagar Air Force Station, for his involvement in the friendly fire incident of the Mi-17 helicopter.

The incident took place on 27 February 2019, resulting in the death of six Air Force personnel and a civilian.

The incident occurred one day after the Indian Air Force carried out an airstrike in Balakot, Pakistan, in retaliation for the Pulwama terror attack on 14 February 2019, which resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched a counterstrike which resulted in Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman (now Group Captain) shooting down a PAF F-16 fighter jet.

During the air combat, Wing Commander Abhinandan's MiG-21 Bison was shot down over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, leading to his capture by the Pakistan Army.

He was later released and returned to India two days after the incident, through the Wagah Border, on the orders of the Pakistani government.

According to a report, on 20 March, the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the GCM to pronounce the findings against Group Captain Chowdhury but ordered that these must not be given effect until the disposal of the case before it.

However, the High Court has not yet disposed of the case.

Group Captain Chowdhury had urged the GCM not to proceed with the pronouncement of the sentence until the case was disposed of by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, on the advice of the Judge Advocate, the GCM proceeded with the sentence.

His counsel, Captain Sandeep Bansal (retd), stated "the Group Captain moved an application on 5 April for not proceeding with the pronouncement of the sentence till the matter was disposed of by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

But on the advice of Judge Advocate, the GCM proceeded ahead. We will challenge it before the High Court.”

However, Air Force officials have stated that the findings of the GCM and the sentence are subject to confirmation by the IAF Chief.

Wing Commander Shyam Naithani, who served as the Senior Air Traffic Control Officer at the time of the incident, has been acquitted of four charges and has received a severe reprimand for one charge.

In contrast, Group Captain Chowdhury has been found guilty of five of the nine charges.

Group Captain Chowdhury has been held guilty for not obeying the general order issued by Air Headquarters, dated 14 July 2017, which required all aircraft operating north of latitude 3200 N to operate with Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) on.

He permitted the Mi-17 helicopter to get airborne from Srinagar without the IFF on.

Additionally, he assigned an inbound flying object to the missile unit at 10.10am on 27 February 2019, 23 km from the Srinagar base for engagement by the Mission Commander, Command and Control Unit of 2258 Squadron.

This resulted in the shootdown of Mi-17 from a Spyder missile at 10.14am causing a lose of Rs 133.31 crore to the exchequer.

The individuals who lost their lives in the incident include pilots Squadron Leader S Vashisht and Squadron Leader Ninand M, Sergeant VK Pandey, Sergeant Vikrant Sahrawat, Corporal Pankaj Kumar, Corporal D Pandey, and Kifayat Hussain Ganie, a civilian on the ground and a resident of Budgam district.

Group Captain Chowdhury has also been found guilty of failing to monitor the position of the friendly helicopter, which goes against the duties of the Terminal Weapon Director (TWD) contained in SOPs.