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Pay strike lands IAF officer in trouble

George Iype in New Delhi

For the first time in the history of the Indian Air Force, a wing commander might face a court martial for protesting against pay disparities.

K R Nagesh, who had been held in custody at the IAF's Palam air force base in New Delhi for 16 days, was released on Saturday, February 7. His crime: he led the IAF's engineering and technical cadres in an unprecedented protest strike in December.

Wide disparity in the pay scales had forced the technical cadre and their wives to demonstrate in the streets at a number of air stations. They alleged that while the new structure provided them an allowance of Rs 226 to Rs 750 every month, it gave their counterparts in the flying wing a raise ranging from Rs 7,000 for transport and helicopter pilots to Rs 9,000 for fighter pilots.

When the agitation snowballed into a major embarrassment, the IAF top brass cracked the whip. Nagesh, an electronics engineer and the most prominent rebel in the force, was arrested and placed under custody for dereliction of duty on January 22.

Nagesh is now fighting back. He has approached the Delhi high court with a writ petition challenging the IAF's 'system of disciplinary action' which, he says, amounts to abject human rights violation.

According to his petition, when the agitation was at its peak, the IAF headquarters asked him to proceed to Leh for temporary duty. However, he was arrested in Delhi and placed under custody.

While Nagesh's detention has sparked off an internal debate whether it was 'an excess by the authorities,' the IAF has decided not to compromise on further disciplinary action against him.

'There is a possibility that he may have to face a court martial,'' a senior IAF official told the Rediff On The NeT.

The official said Nagesh had been placed under house arrest after the IAF was convinced that 'he led the agitation that disrupted the basic services in the force.'

In the event of a court martial, Nagesh will be asked to defend himself in an in camera court trial where he will have to present proof and witnesses to argue that the disciplinary action against him was baseless.

IAF spokesperson Squadron Leader R K Dhingra says the authorities were forced to take extreme action after a near mutiny by ground duty officers -- engineers and technical cadres -- badly hit several air force bases across the country.

Dhingra said there is nothing new in the system of disciplinary action and court of inquiry against Nagesh.

"We have recorded evidence against Nagesh. Now a competent authority within the IAF will decide what action should be taken against him,'' he said.

The IAF official argued that the action should not be seen as ''an excess from the air force wing.'' ''The IAF is a disciplined organisation and we have to live with it,'' he added.

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