Defence ministry pulls up Navy on mishaps, moral turpitude

New Delhi: The defence ministry today pulled up the Navy over the recent spate of mishaps involving warships and cases of moral turpitude surrounding some of its personnel and asked it to address such issues. The concerns were conveyed during a meeting a senior Navy official had with a top functionary of the ministry in New Delhi, sources said.[caption id=“attachment_1372187” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Saving naval assets. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] The force has been asked to address these issues as mishaps involving the warships could dampen the morale of the force and cases involving moral turpitude would bring bad name to it, they said. The development came at a time when the Navy has seen nine incidents of its warships being involved in mishaps, including one on Sunday. There have also been cases of alleged sexual misconduct and illicit relationship involving some naval officers. In a recent case, a Naval officer Captain (equivalent to Colonel in Army) Manoj Rawat is facing the prospect of being sacked for allegedly having an illicit affair. The ministry is looking into the possibility of leakage of secret documents by the officer, who was posted at the Directorate of Naval Operations. The officer has been recommended for disciplinary action by the Naval headquarters after he was found guilty of having an extra-marital affair. The final decision on his sacking would be taken by the defence ministry. A number of sexual misconduct cases and wife-swapping allegations have dogged the navy in recent years, prompting Defence Minister AK Antony to take “sternest possible action”. PTI