Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Grievance reforms needed in India

Global Military Justice Reform contributor Wing Cdr (Ret) U C Jha has written here for Daily News & Analysis about the need for reform of the Indian armed forces' grievance system. Excerpt:
A military person who deems himself wronged by any superior/commanding officer may complain to the higher authorities for the redress of his grievances. The Regulations of the three services provide different procedures for the processing of complaints. The complaints by the officers are addressed to the Central Government, while that of the other ranks to the respective service chiefs. The intermediate authorities in the chain of command can interview the complainant, investigate the matter and forward the complaint, along with detailed paragraph-wise comments to the next superior authority. The complainant is not informed about the comments of the intermediate authorities on his grievance application. This amounts to a violation of the principles of natural justice because the comments furnished by the intermediate authorities to higher authorities are essential to the complainant, so as to enable him to know what has been commented against him/her by the said military authority while forwarding the complaint.
His conclusion: "the Government must ensure that the grievance redressal system is updated and remains in tune with the times."

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are subject to moderation and must be submitted under your real name. Anonymous comments will not be posted (even though the form seems to permit them).