Col Vijay Bakshi

Kargil

Command Hospital

Haris

Sarala Mohan

Army

Bengaluru

Punjab Regiment

Criminal cases were filed against Colonel for doing his job; a recent court order has brought him some hope(Rtd) can be spotted in the corridors of Mayo Hall every other month. The 61-year-oldWar veteran, who now teaches at a reputed business school, is forced to take a day out of his schedule every few weeks for the two criminal cases filed against him. This he has been doing for the last two years.One of the cases is a suo moto one filed by the city police after he and his then Battalion Commander were booked for using ‘excessive force’ (under multiple IPC sections) against a mob at Agara near Gautampura (near) in the presence of local MLA NA, corporatorand senior police officials while trying to reclaim a piece of military land that was reportedly encroached upon in March 2013.“I was just following orders. The mob started pelting our men with stones. We were ordered to reclaim the military land and we were doing exactly that. Surprisingly, neither the busloads of police personnel nor the local MLA, NA Haris, who were at the spot did anything to pacify the mob. Our men handled the situation with restraint but it would have been easier if the leaders had tried to pacify the mob,” said Col Bakshi.After the situation was resolved, Bakshi, the Establishment Officer of 515Base Workshop (which owns the land) and his Battalion Commander were booked in two separate cases with charges of criminal intimidation and causing hurt.The counter complaint they filed with the police was closed without a proper investigation. He then filed a private complaint against Haris, ex-corporator Sarala Mohan, her husband P Mohan, and others, including police personnel and local residents, alleging that the protest and the subsequent drama was part of an elaborate plan to usurp military land.The newly formed Additional City Civil and Sessions Court (CCH-82) – set up for exclusively hearing criminal cases against MLAs and MPs – ordered on April 21 that DCP (East), should take up Bakshi’s private complaint and submit a report before the case comes for its next hearing on July 31.“I am happy that the court found merit in my private complaint and ordered for an investigation. I had no option but to do this. Every two months, I have to go to the court and then most often it gets postponed. I have to take full day’s leave from work; plus, there is the humiliation of having a criminal case for no valid reason,” Bakshi added.FLASHBACKOn March 23, 2013, local residents came out in droves to protest the army’s attempt to regain control of their patch of land which was allegedly being encroached upon in the guise of carrying out drain work.The BWSSB started constructing a storm water drain which ended up encroaching upon the military land. The compound wall of the army land was partially torn down and the military men were trying to set up a barbed wire fence around the plot.Sarala Mohan, ex-corporator of Ward No 114, said: “These military people were very rude. They had guns and sticks and were very aggressive. They did not even care for women in the crowd. But our MLA Haris was our pillar of strength. He came at night itself and summoned police to the spot to deal with the situation.”Mohan’s explanation was that on each side of the drain, there should be a 3.5-metre vacant space and that’s why they had to enter into the military compound, and had no malicious intent. However, Col Bakshi’s private complaint has alleged that the entire act was for personal and political gains.“It initially seemed like they had drainage maintenance work. But it soon turned ugly. A portion of the wall was also brought down which we were trying to reconstruct,” Bakshi added. Mohan, however, claimed that the wall was weak and a portion of it collapsed on its own while the drain construction was going on.Col Bakshi is currently an associate professor at a reputed business school in Electronics City. His colleague and Battalion Commander Vijayendra Rao, according to Bakshi’s lawyer, has relocated out ofand has not been attending court regularly due to medical reasons.“I was lucky that I was allotted my lawyer from the Central Government Standing Counsel list at the High Court here. The legal expenses are borne by my organisation. It is unfortunate that they filed cases against me and my colleague just to trouble us. We were just soldiers following orders,” Bakshi added.Bakshi recollected the mental harassment and pressure of being summoned by the police and also getting a non-bailable warrant issued against him in connection with the suo moto case filed by the cops.“We have obtained bail in that case and it was then we decided to file a private complaint against the MLA and other leaders citing that the accused persons conspired with each other and tore down the military compound wall and trespassed into the compound with criminal motives,” said BS Guruswamy, Central Government Standing Counsel, who appeared for Col Bakshi.Shantinagar MLA NA Haris also claimed that a 3.5 metre buffer zone had to be ensured around the drain and that was why the work had to enter into the compound. He also added that there was some dispute existing over the ownership of this particular land. When asked about the two separate cases including a suo motu case filed against the army officers, Haris said the army men were really aggressive on that day.“In fact, I believe, I had to intervene and pacify everyone to resolve the situation. Otherwise it would have been a huge fight,” Haris added.Col Bakshi, in his 36 years of service, has been part of multiple missions. He was part of theposted in Batalik that had spotted the first batch of Pakistan infiltrators on the Indian side, which sparked the Kargil skirmish in May 1999.He has also received the President’s medal for his service during the Kargil War and has been involved in multiple operations in Nagaland and has also been posted in Siachen.DCP (East) was unavailable for comment.