G Raghuram, a sailor whom the Indian Navy declared a deserter 10 years back, did not abandon his ship after all.
G Raghuram, a sailor whom the Indian Navy declared a deserter 10 years back, did not abandon his ship after all.
His wife Pratibha and her then three-month old child, who were asked to vacate their Navy-Nagar home in 1999 by the navy, may finally see light at the end of a long legal battle.
The Bombay High Court on Friday quashed the navy’s order declaring Raghuram deserter and said that he should have been assumed to be dead as he had been missing for a decade.
Under the Indian Evidence Act, a person is assumed to be dead if he/she has been missing for over seven years.
According to Pratibha’s advocate Satish Shah, the court said Pratibha would be entitled to her husband’s arrears and allowances from the navy as the quashing of the navy’s order declaring him deserter means that he had died performing his duty on the INS Viraat.
Raghuram who joined the navy in 1987, worked as a leading electrical mechanic aircraft radio (LEMAR) in the electrical department. However, while sailing aboard the INS Viraat, he reportedly went missing from Goa on November 10, 1998.
On December 15, 1998, Pratibha who then lived in Mumbai with her three-month old son, received a letter from SK Damle, commanding officer of INS Viraat stating that an arrest warrant for Raghuram was issued as he had deserted the ship. In February 1999, Pratibha was asked to vacate the navy quarters as the “deserter” label given to her husband had stripped her off all the benefits of a serviceman’s wife.
Pratibha had written to Damle stating that Raghuram, who had excellent service record, could not have deserted the ship. Nonetheless, she was evicted from her house. She moved court in 1999 and later moved to Warangal, Andhra Pradhesh to her father’s house.
While hearing reserving their order in the case in April, Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice AP Bhangale had remarked, “Every desertion may be absence but every absence cannot be desertion.”
Arguing her case, advocate Shah pointed out to the court that when the ship reached Goa on November 10, 1990 and the sailors had stepped out on the shore a head-count was conducted at the time of arrival and departure. Shah contended that the officers on the ship knew that he had not returned, yet no steps were taken to find him.
j_mayura@dnaindia.net
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