Siachen accused cries foul

The counsel for Major Surinder Singh, the accused in the Siachen case, Monday sought Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's intervention and a fresh inquiry into the case, saying the ongoing open trial in a military court was "not independent" and "fair".

"I have written to the defence minister on behalf of Major Surinder Singh," R S Randhawa, counsel for Major Singh, told reporters. Singh had allegedly made false claims about the killing of Pakistani troops in Siachen.

Randhawa alleged that the open trial at Jodhpur "was not independent and fair" and that Chief of Army Staff Gen N C Vij had "misled" the people by claiming that a trial was in progress.

"It is not a trial that is going on at Jodhpur. In fact, it is recording of summary evidence against Major Surinder Singh," Randhawa said.

Besides, he said, "The role of Col K D Singh, Commanding Officer (CO) of Gorkha Battalion, was not under scrutiny."

Randhawa said he feared that the video compact discs submitted by Major Singh during the court of inquiry at Siachen may be tampered with.

Alleging that the army chief had "failed to take notice of the case", he said "we twice sought time from Gen Vij to apprise him about the possibility of tampering with the VCDs. However, he did not pay any attention."