Navy probing officer’s ‘misconduct’ in Russia

Defence minister AK Antony admitted in parliament on Tuesday that the navy was probing allegations of misconduct by Commodore Sukhjinder Singh during his posting in Russia to supervise the repair and modernisation of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

The allegations were first reported by DNA on April 12.
“The Indian Navy has instituted an inquiry into the conduct of Commodore Sukhjinder Singh, who served as a warship production superintendent to oversee the repair of the ship in Russia, on permanent duty from March 2005 to April 2007,” Antony said.

A court of inquiry was initiated against Singh after a CD, a copy of which is with DNA, reached the naval high command. The CD contains pictures showing him in a compromising position with a Russian woman. The defence top brass suspects the woman could have been a honey trap.

In 2008, Russia had demanded a massive price hike for refitting Admiral Gorshkov, raising eyebrows in the defence establishment and leading to demands for scrapping the project. Singh was a member of the cost negotiation committee set up to deal with the Russians.

Admiral Gorshkov was first slated to be delivered in 2008, but is now expected in 2012. The ship, which is undergoing a refit in Severodvinsk, Russia, was purchased by India for $1.5 billion. But during the visit of prime minister Vladimir Putin  in March second week, the government agreed to pay $2.33 billion for its refit.