Lt Col Purohit approaches AFT against purported 'suspension'

Malegaon blast accused Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit has approached the Armed Forces Tribunal after receiving a purported government letter suggesting that he has been suspended from service and his 25 per cent salary would be deducted.
In his petition, the Military Intelligence officer has alleged that the government was trying to "create false records" of his "back-dated" suspension from service, which was "illegal and in violation of his rights".
The letter dated May 9 has been written by the Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA), Pune, which handles the salaries of Army officers, to the Army Education College in Panchmarhi, where he was last posted asking for his "suspension letter" which also asked for 25 per cent of his salary to be deducted.

"The petitioner (Purohit) never received any communication remotely indicating his suspension from the Army or deduction in his salary," Purohit's lawyer Neela Gokhale told PTI here.
"It is also an attempt to create false records against the officer... In these circumstances, the attempt to create a false back-dated record in respect of purported suspension of services of the applicant and without providing information is absolutely illegal and violation of the rights of the applicant," she said.
In his plea before the court, the officer has asked for a stay on whatever steps have been taken by the government or the authorities concerned after receiving the communication from the CDA office.

In 2010, Purohit had filed an appeal in the AFT seeking quashing of the CoI proceedings as it was in violation of the Army Act.
He was undergoing an advanced course in Arabic language in an army institution when he was arrested for his alleged involvement in the terror attack in Malegaon and has been in jail since then.