Vishnu Bhagwat is a former
Chief of the
Naval Staff of India
. He
is the first and only chief of naval staff who was sacked while
still serving. It was for the first time in the history of
independent India that a service headquarter had refused to
implement the order of an incumbent government.
The sack and after
Vishnu Bhagwat was appointed to chief of naval staff from 30
September 1996 and was sacked on 30 December 1998 under Article 310
of the
Constitution of India.
The unprecedented and much publicised row between the government
and the admiral began after the Cabinet appointments committee
appointed Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh as deputy chief of the naval
staff. Refusing to accept the Cabinet order, Admiral Bhagwat went
public with his opposition to the government's decision. The
government said that a series of actions from
Admiral Bhagwat "were in deliberate defiance of the
government."
The Supreme Court of India
later dismissed a petition by the sacked Navy chief
challenging the Government’s decision to dismiss him from service
and the punitive measure to strip him of the title of
admiral.
Career
He went to School at The Lawrence School Sanawar on a prestigious
Govt. of India scholarship by talented children. He is extremely
proud of his school. Vishnu Bhagwat was commissioned into the
Indian Navy on 1 January 1960. A
graduate of the
National Defence Academy,
he was awarded the Telescope for the Best All-Round Cadet on the
training ship, INS Tir and the Sword of Honour for the Best
All-Round Midshipman of the Fleet.
In his 36 years of service he had a vast and varied experience in
combat operations, warship production, acquisition and acceptance,
personnel management and command.
He was actively associated with the 1961
Goa
Liberation
Operations. During the
1971 Indo–Pak war his ship was in
the escort groups for missile boats responsible for humbling the
adversary. A Specialist in Communication and Electronic Warfare, he
was Flag Lt. to Chief of the Naval Staff in 1968–70 and Naval
Assistant to Chief of the Naval Staff in 1986-87.
Vishnu Bhagwat completed his first major command in INS Amini with
the Western Fleet before being assigned as the Fleet Operations
Officer of the same Fleet (1978–79). He commissioned the third
Rajput class guided missile destroyer (DDG),
INS Ranjit in September 1983 and was in command for 2½ years during
which the ship set new fleet standards/records in weapons, sensors
and operations.
On promotion to the Flag rank in 1988 he served as additional DG
Defence Planning Staff, Chief of Staff of Western Naval Command and
commanded the Eastern Fleet. He was Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff
for two years at the Naval Headquarters. Prior to taking over as
the Chief of the Naval staff on 1 October 1996, he was Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.
A Graduate of National Defence College, Bhagwat is a recipient of
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) in 1986 and was conferred the Param
Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) on
26 January
1996.
Other controversies
In 2003, Bhagwat reportedly questioned installation of
Veer Sarvarkar's portrait in the
Central Hall of
Parliament of
India. This invited the ire of the
Shiv
Sena, a political party of India.
[367024]
Further reading
- "An Admiral's Fall" by Wilson John
- "Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat Sacked or Sunk" by Brig R P Singh and
Commodore Ranjit Rai.
References
External links
Wikis
Map
Search