Jawan caught impersonating Lt-Gen for medical test

Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui, TNN | Mar 28, 2011, 04.14am IST

LUCKNOW: A senior army officer in Bareilly allegedly ordered an army jawan to undergo a medical fitness test in place of himself. The lapse was detected but not before the jawan not only got himself medically examined but also went ahead to sign the document in place of the real applicant, only to vanish into thin air once the fraud was detected.
It all began on Friday morning when two army jawans arrived at Bareilly District Hospital for a medical fitness certificate. After due registration, the jawan -- posing as the applicant seeking the certificate -- appeared before a senior doctor for the check-up only to be declared fit by the attending doctor, who also attested the signature of the applicant seeking the certificate. Finally, when the file reached medical superintendent (MS), Dr Vijay Yadav, he discovered that the photograph of the applicant on the form on which the medical certificate was to be issued did not match the person posing as applicant before him. When a surprised MS questioned the individual if he has signed the document in column meant for the signature and attested photograph of the applicant, the army jawan boldly replied in the positive.
According to Dr Yadav, the application form identified the applicant as Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) PS Tavar, Cantonment, Bareilly. The certificate was reportedly sought for submission with the application for an arms licence. Dr Yadav, reportedly, not only refused to verify the document but, also cancelled the certificate. He then reported the matter to his senior, the CMO, who in turn brought the matter to the notice of the DM.
When contacted on Sunday, Dr Vijay Yadav refused to talk claiming that he had "directions from the top" to keep mum on the issue. CMO Dr A K Tyagi said that he has brought the matter to the notice of DM Anil Garg. The DM, in turn, admitted that the incident had taken place, but he was clear that they were not initiating any action into the incident. "It is for the army to take action," he said. Interestingly, when asked if he had intimated the army authorities about the issue, he hung up saying: "Please get back to me later".
On the other hand, legal experts in Lucknow insist that the incident is a fit case of "fraud'' under the Indian Penal Code, and must not be overlooked merely because it involves a top army officer. "No matter who the person is, if an individual applies for a government verification and presents someone else in his name for the job, it is fraud. There is no way that one can overlook this blatant crime," said senior high court lawyer, Atul Verma. Do you like this story?

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