One of the Board of Inquiries (BOI) set-up by the Navy to probe into the two separate submarine accidents, which claimed the lives of 20 officers and sailors besides leaving several injured, has submitted its report to the Naval headquarters.
“The BOI report in the case of INS Sindhuratna has found seven officers culpable of various acts of omissions and commissions. Disciplinary actions against these officers have been initiated at the Western Naval Command Headquarters,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar wrote in a reply to a specific question in the Rajya Sabha today.
In February this year, a Naval submarine – INS Sindhuratna -- met with an unfortunate accident, when it was on a routine sortie, claiming the lives of two young officers and leaving several injured.
The report itself will remain classified for at least a few more years. According to top Navy Officers, the contents of the report cannot be made public because it risks compromising on a lot of “technology related” details of the submarines, which can potentially be misused by the enemy countries.
On what this omission and commission could mean, a senior Navy officer said it could be related to non-adherence of standard operating procedures, taking shortcuts when they ought not to have been taken – intentionally or unintentionally.
The severity of the punishment will depend on the “seriousness” or “gravity,” of the wrong-doing or negligence by the officers involved, the Navy officer said. It remains unclear if all guilty will be meted out the same punishment or if any of them will be court-martialled.
INS Sindhurakshak
About six months before the Sindhuratna incident, another Naval submarine -- INS Sindhurakshak -- sunk at the Mumbai coast in the intervening night of August 14 and 15, after a couple of explosions that prima-facie emanated from a malfunction in the battery compartment. The incident claimed the lives of 18 officers and sailors.
Examination of the BOI report in case of INS Sindhurakshak has not been completed, the Defence Minister informed in his written reply.
In February after the Sindhuratna incident, the then Naval chief, Admiral D.K. Joshi resigned owning moral responsibility for the incidents. He later revealed in an interview to a TV News channel that he was disappointed by the lack of authority given even to the service chiefs in procurement related decisions.