Professional Standards

Some things are not acceptable by the standards of any professional Navy... including in India.

The government has finally approved the sacking of Commodore Sukhjinder Singh, a senior naval officer involved in the $2.33 billion acquisition of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov from Russia, a year after his sexually explicit photographs with a Russian woman surfaced.

Defence minister A K Antony "cleared" the file before he left for poll-bound Kerala on Wednesday, and the Navy "is now processing" the actual order for Singh's dismissal from service, said MoD sources.

Though he may have escaped a much-harsher court-martial, Singh will not only be discharged due to his sexual misdemeanours and "conduct unbecoming of an officer" but also lose his pension and other benefits under the relevant provisions of Section 216 of the Navy Act and Regulations, said sources.

India should have purchased the Kitty Hawk instead.