The Hindu : National : Army denies top law officer bent rules

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 20, 2004

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National

Army denies top law officer bent rules

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 19. The Army today denied reports that its top law officer had obtained a law degree through "fraudulent" means. It said there was no truth in reports that the Chief of the Army Staff, N.C. Vij, had ordered a court of inquiry into the episode and that it would be headed by the Chief of the Western Command, P.K. Grover.

It said that the complainant, A.K. Chandra, had been sending complaints to the Army Headquarters against senior officers. These complaints had been examined and found baseless.

On the degree acquired by the Judge Advocate-General (JAG), Nilendera Kumar, the Army said he had acquired a three-year law degree from Lucknow University as a regular student. He had studied in Sri Jai Narain College, where classes were held in the evening. The officer had cleared exams for two years while serving in Lucknow. Prior to the third year examination, he was posted out of Lucknow. Having met all the requisite criteria for appearing in the exam, he was allowed by the University to take the exam, for which results were declared in December 1982. He passed in the first division.

The Army said that it had a qualification verification system for all appointments. Major General Nilendera Kumar had been serving with the JAG branch for the last 23 years and was an authority on Army law.

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