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{{Short description|Indian Army officer (born 1962)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Avijit Misra
| death_date =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 April 1962}}
| birth_place = Coochbehar India
| death_place =
| placeofburial =
| image =
| caption =
| alma_mater = [[Sainik School purulia]]<br />[[National Defence Academy]] <br />[[Indian Military Academy]]
| nickname =
| allegiance = India
| branch = [[Indian Army]]
| serviceyears =
| rank = [[Colonel (India)|Colonel]]
| commands = CO of 26 Rajput
| unit = [[Rajput Regiment]]
}}
''' Avijit Misra ''' (born 3 April 1962) is an [[Indian Army]] colonel<ref name="AFT">http://www.aftkolkata.nic.in/upload/court/Court-29.PDF {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> from Pandapara, Kalibari, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. In April 2012, he shot to national limelight in India when the Kolkata bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal acquitted him of all charges earlier decided by a general court martial in 2006.<ref name="AFT"/><ref name="intoday">{{Cite web|url=http://headlinestoday.intoday.in/headlines_today/programme/army-reinstates-whistleblower-colonel/1/185434.html|title = Army reinstates whistleblower Colonel}}</ref>
The Armed Forces Tribunal, Kolkata Bench, also ordered that Misra be reinstated.
An officer of 26 Rajput Regiment, Colonel Misra was fired from service and sent to
one year rigorous imprisonment for the crime — blowing the whistle over problems in the unit, while he was posted at the sensitive Zimithang sector, Arunachal Pradesh, on the Sino-Indian border in 2003.<ref name="express">http://expressbuzz.com/topnews/at-last-army-reinstates-whistle-blower-colonel/383546.html{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Early life and education==

Avijit Misra comes from Pandapara in Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]]. He was born in [[Cooch Behar]]. His father Shri Prakash Chandra Misra<ref name="AFT"/> was a central government gazetted officer in Customs and Central Excise. Misra was educated at [[Sainik School Purulia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sainikschoolpurulia.com/otba.htm |title=SainikSchoolPurulia - OTBA |access-date=2012-05-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427220147/http://www.sainikschoolpurulia.com/otba.htm |archive-date=27 April 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref>

==Military career==
{{unreferenced section|date= May 2022}}

Misra was commissioned into the 16th Battalion of the Rajput Regiment in 1982. He is a graduate of [[Defence Services Staff College]] at Wellington and a post-graduate in Defence & Strategic Studies from Chennai University. He has served in Sikkim, J&K and Arunachal Pradesh and fought in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and North East. He has excelled in professional courses, being awarded A/Instructor's grading.

During his career, he served in various positions:

*General Staff Officer - 1 (Operations) of first Armoured Division
*General Staff Officer - 1 (Intelligence) at Fort William.
*Instructor in Infantry School, MHOW Instructor Class 'B' in Anti Tank
*Guided Missile Group and Tactics Wing

==Honours and awards ==

Awarded Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTempSimple.aspx?MnId=OZwNvJCYZ+wE5d0tIhWdww==&ParentID=3x1u9vDjNrsbJkRIOZJPAQ==&flag=h1GzMhLYdSJo8UaHWq3iyQ==|title = The Official Home Page of the Indian Army}}</ref> for Gallantry in 1997.

==Role as whistleblower and general court martial==

On being promoted to colonel, Misra commanded the 26 RAJPUT in Operation PARAKRAM in the Western theatre and in the Zimithang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh. This included the sensitive Namkha Chu valley that triggered the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict.{{Citation needed|date= May 2022}}

On inducting with his battalion at Zimithang in 2003, Colonel Misra, as the Commanding Officer of the 26 RAJPUT, noticed several aspects that impacted operational and administrative imperatives of his battalion, so he decided to raise his concerns with his brigade headquarters.<ref name="express"/>
These issues pertained to crumbling defences; the poor state of habitat of his troops; deficiency of mechanical transport affecting operational efficiency; excessive commitment of battalion manpower on sundry guards and duties which negated his capacity to maintain mandated operational reserves; supply of inferior quality of ration to his men besides, deduction of troops' ration at the Supply Depot and continual demand on regimental and public funds of his battalion, etc.<ref name="AFT"/> To address these issues on priority, he commenced writing to his immediate superior, not realizing that doing his duty would lead to a court martial.<ref name="express"/>

A general court martial was conducted wherein false complaints were lodged against him through a subordinate of his, which eventually led to his court martial in 2005.<ref name="AFT"/> Col. Avijit Misra was not allowed to defend himself against these charges on purpose, and at the end of a speedy trial <ref name="AFT"/> was convicted and sentenced to be cashiered and suffer one year of rigorous imprisonment.<ref name="AFT"/>
On being released from prison in 2006, desolate and penniless, he took it upon himself to fight for his honour.
In 2007, he met the noted human rights activist and lawyer Ms Maitrayee Trivedi Dasgupta,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://calcuttatube.com/our-voice-our-journey-ii-celebrated-at-us-consulate-in-kolkata/169604/ |title = Our Voice Our Journey II celebrated at US Consulate in KOLKATA | Calc… |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709230409/http://calcuttatube.com/our-voice-our-journey-ii-celebrated-at-us-consulate-in-kolkata/169604/ |archive-date=9 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> who took up his cause pro bono.

== Acquittal by Armed Forces Tribunal and reinstatement as colonel ==

The case created national media attention, and in a landmark judgement, the Kolkata Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal overturned the verdict of the court martial and ruled on 17 April 2012 that Col. Avijit Misra stood honourably acquitted of all charges and would be reinstated in service with all consequential benefits.<ref name="AFT"/><ref name="express"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120419/nation.htm#5|title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation}}</ref>

The Armed Forces Tribunal gave the Army 90 days to implement its order.<ref name="AFT"/> The jail term and court martial record was to be removed from his service history.<ref name="AFT"/> However, the Ministry of Defence challenged the AFT's order in the Supreme Court in 2012. After a few hearings, the case was finally disposed of by the Supreme Court on April 27, 2016.<ref>https://main.sci.gov.in/jonew/courtnic/rop/2012/32151/rop_671818.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> However, Col Misra would have been due for superannuation on April 30, 2016, had he been in service. Therefore, the case presented a curious challenge for the Army Headquarter.
<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2016/may/22/The-curious-case-of-a-colonel-906612.html|title = The curious case of a colonel}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* http://indiatoday.intoday.in/video/army-reinstates-whistleblower-colonel/1/185434.html
* http://www.aftkolkata.nic.in/judgements
* http://video.in.msn.com/watch/video/colonel-avijit-misra-to-be-restored/24sn8ozg1{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063846/http://www.aftdelhi.nic.in/benches/kolkata_bench/cause_list/14032012.pdf
* http://www.aftkolkata.nic.in/upload/contents/File-5.pdf

{{DEFAULTSORT:Misra, Avijit}}
[[Category:Indian whistleblowers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel]]
[[Category:People who were court-martialed]]
[[Category:Sainik School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Cooch Behar district]]
[[Category:Activists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Avijit Misra - Revision history

Bot at 22:04, 23 August 2022