The Budgam helicopter crash in India: fog of war and culpability

I write for The Quint on the unfortunate helicopter crash in India which is being speculated to have been caused by friendly fire and wherein it was hinted in the media that the concerned officers may be tried for culpable homicide.

The Budgam Helicopter Crash: Fog of War and Culpability

Navdeep Singh

The Budgam helicopter crash incident of 27^th February in which we lost precious lives of air force personnel, is again in the news.

There were reports in the media that the chopper came down on account of friendly fire and that the Air Force was contemplating trying the officers responsible for the incident for culpable homicide. I even saw reports and comments on social media that the pensionary and other benefits of the families of the fallen would be determined as per the conclusions reached in the investigation.

I personally find the above quite odd for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, while the hint of the friendly fire aspect might be true, I do not feel that a conclusion of all attendant circumstances qua the fixing of the blame can be reached until the statutory Court of Inquiry convened by the Air Force under the Air Force Rules renders its report.

Secondly, in case someone connected with the procedure has casually stated that the officers would be tried for culpable homicide, the statement seems irresponsible simply due to the fact that till now the Court of Inquiry has not reached a conclusion or ascribed blame and hence it would be absolutely reckless and immature for any person officially associated with the proceedings to make such a statement.

Thirdly, the decision to take action against the guilty, if any, is of the concerned competent authorities under law and not that of the Court of Inquiry, which is simply a fact finding body and recommendatory in nature.

Fourthly, even before the conclusion of the Court of Inquiry, and establishment of culpability, it would totally be inappropriate to prejudge the matter and far-fetched to comment upon the sections of law under which a person would be tried. In fact, this is one aspect that the defence services, de hors the instant case, need to be quite alive about, since statements such as “the concerned official(s) shall be given exemplary punishment” start flying left, right and centre even from senior officers on any unfortunate happening or alleged crime, which clearly gives rise to the fear of institutional bias and prejudgement.

Fifthly, the incident, though extremely unfortunate, can plainly be ascribed to fog of war and battle ambiguities, albeit highly undesirable in a limited conflict situation, and would at the most be a case of negligence leading to death (Section 304-A Indian Penal Code), and cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be termed as culpable homicide (Section 299 Indian Penal Code), which requires an element of “intention” or “knowledge”. In any case, there are specific provisions related to such incidents available under the Air Force Act, such as Section 62 (Offences in relation to aircraft and flying) which again grade the wrongdoing into higher and lower category based upon the fact whether the action was wilful or otherwise.

Sixthly, it would be inane to tag the issue with release of benefits to the families of those who unfortunately passed away in this incident. The grant of benefits to the families would have no connexion whatsoever with the culpability of the concerned employees. The families of the fallen are casualties in an operational area and are eligible to full and liberalized pensionary benefits and ex-gratia as is available to deaths in operations. The locale of the incident is a notified operational region.

While the incident was extremely unfortunate, it is hoped and expected that the Court of Inquiry reveals the nuts and bolts of the happenings of that fateful day, not only to establish the truth, but also to ensure that such mishap never happens in the future.

I am confident of the fact that not only would the Air Force go into the very minute details of the matter without prejudging any guilt of any personality involved, but would also display the moral courage expected of it in unravelling the truth.

Irrespective of the regrettable circumstances surrounding this incident, the nation and the defence services firmly stand behind the families of those whom we lost that day in February.