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Home >Interviews >Military & Aerospace >Who else is the beneficiary of CSD Liquor?
Mi l i tary & Aerospace Mi l i tary & Aerospace
ByMaj Gen Chander Nandwani
IssueNet Edition| Date : 11 May , 2012
Way back in 1995, I was posted as Additional Director General of Supplies & Transport
in Army Headquarters. Apart from my routine responsibilities, I was also given additional
charge of managing Army Headquarters (AHQ) canteen, as its Chairman. It wasnt much
of a prized post, since a retired Colonel appointed as the Canteen Manager with around
50 to 60 civilian employees working under him, was essentially accountable, for the
day-to-day functioning of the canteen.
Soon after taking over the additional
responsibility, I decided to pay a visit to the
AHQ canteen during the lunch hour break to get
a Feedback from the employees with regard to
their working conditions as also motivate them
to provide better service to the customers. After
patiently listening to their woes and giving
on-the-spot decisions to improve their working
conditions, I made a remark that while being
posted at Delhi on three earlier occasions, I had
never patronized AHQ canteen, as more often
than not, all the attractive consumer items
including popular brands of liquor were seldom
accessible to the customers. Therefore, my
area of focus would be to strictly monitor the
indenting and sale of such items. For this
purpose, computers would be installed in the
canteen and sale of liquor strictly regulated through issue of new cards after due
verification of the cardholders. Further, the existing liquor cards in use would be
discontinued straightaway and destroyed.
The next day, all hell was let loose against me. Big posters were pasted at every nook
and corner of Sena Bhawan and South Block, making serious allegations against me.
Radhe Shyam (name changed), a labourer and the union leader of AHQ Canteen civilian
employees, having three buses and two flats in Delhi, threatened that there would be
Mass J oint Self Immolation by all employees at J antar Mantar on the Republic Day (due
after 10 days or so), if Maj Gen Chander Nandwani was not immediately removed from
the post of Chairman of the canteen. News items on similar lines were also published in
the reputed national dailies. The allegations made against me included taking of a big
bribe for purchase new computers, favouring purchase of specific liquor brands, coercing
women employees for sexual favours and so on. I was particularly tickled by the
allegation of sexual favours and cheekily informed my wife that surely my standing in this
regard was now far better than what she had imagined during past several years of our
married life!!!
I was immediately summoned by the Quarter
Master General (QMG), under whom the
canteen functioned, and was asked to brief him
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Who else is the beneficiary of CSD Liquor? IndianDefence Review http://www.indiandefencereview.com/interviews/who-else-is-the-beneficiary-of-csd-liquor/
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on this sudden turn of events when everything
was going on so smoothly before I took over
the charge of the AHQ canteen. I requested for
a couple of days time to make discreet
enquiries. Before I could say J ack Robinson,
there was a note from the MOD signed by a
Director level officer asking the Chief of Army
Staff (COAS) to comment on the allegations
made against me and take all possible
measures, including removing me from the post
of Chairman, to avoid any embarrassment to
the Govt., should the threat of Mass
Self-Immolation materialize, just prior to the
Republic Day. What a joke! The matter did not
end there. This note from MOD was followed
by another note through which, a memorandum
signed by 13 MPs and addressed to the
Defence Minister, was also forwarded to the COAS, urging him to remove me from the
post. This raised the hackles of the then COAS, late General BC J oshi. He called the
QMG to his office and asked him to take the matter very seriously and put up a draft
reply to both the notes of the MOD, for his approval. In the meanwhile an interim reply
was sent to the MOD that the matter was being investigated.
My preliminary investigations revealed that a perfect nexus existed between the canteen
civilian staff union leader Radhe Shyam, a few officials of MOD and a large number of
politicians, to whom liquor was being supplied from AHQ canteen, on a regular basis. Of
course the demand increased manifold during the time of elections. What intrigued me
the most was the modus operandi of smuggling out of such large quantities of liquor,
with the Military Police and several other security agencies working in the highly sensitive
areas of Army Headquarters and MOD. The actuality came to light when a disgruntled ex
civilian employee of the canteen spilled the beans to me on promise of strict anonymity. I
was shaken out of my bones when the truth came to light and immediately ran to the
office of QMG to give him the details. He dis-believed me and decided to get the facts
verified through a field security agency of the army and learnt to his horror that what I
had disclosed to him was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Well this is how the system worked. The union
leader had in his custody hundreds of old liquor
cards of servicemen and/or ex-servicemen who
had either left the station or had died. He drew
choicest brands of liquor from the canteen in the
names of these personnel and had
simultaneously perfected a distribution system
through which the liquor was delivered right at
the doorsteps of the selected MOD officials and
several politicians apart from other influential
clients in the ministry. Surprisingly, right next to
the AHQ canteen was the parking lot of VIP
staff cars and some of these staff car drivers had been bought over by Radhe Shyam by
giving them free bottles of rum and other lucrative canteen items such as expensive
watches etc. During the lunch break when security was lax, these drivers would reverse
their cars next to the canteen bulk store, wherefrom crates of liquor were loaded into the
dickey of these staff cars. Radhe Shyam instructed these drivers to deliver the liquor
crates at various locations after dropping the VIPs at their respective residences. Wow
what an ingenuous idea! The irony of the matter is that the staff cars with the flags & star
plates of Generals, Admirals and Air Marshals (including the QMG), without the
knowledge of the occupants, were being illegitimately used by unscrupulous individuals
for their unholy deeds. Sadly these very senior officers had unknowingly become couriers
of liquor for the politicians. No wonder there was such a sharp reaction from all quarters,
when I had only hinted at introducing computers to check the sale of liquor from the AHQ
canteen!
The Chief on being informed of the facts of the case directed the QMG to give me full
protection and total support to cleanse the system. I obtained legal advice from a leading
civilian lawyer. He advised me to request for an enquiry against myself since I had taken
over the post barely 10 days earlier and had nothing to hide. Thereafter, on my specific
request on file, a court of inquiry was ordered by the QMG to investigate into the
allegations made by Radhe Shyam, which were supported by the MOD and the MPs.
The court of Inquiry proved these allegations to be false, baseless and malicious with the
sole aim of having me removed from the post due to ulterior motives. To avoid several
heads from rolling, the MOD and the MPs were politely told by the then COAS verbally
that the matter had been thoroughly investigated by a high-powered court of Inquiry,
which had opined that there was no truth in the allegations made by the union leader.
Hence the matter was not being pursued further to save all concerned from grave
Who else is the beneficiary of CSD Liquor? IndianDefence Review http://www.indiandefencereview.com/interviews/who-else-is-the-beneficiary-of-csd-liquor/
2 of 3 6/4/2012 9:38 PM
embarrassment.
On directions of the QMG, the services of the union leader were terminated under my
signatures and the whole system revamped with the introduction of computers, thus
bringing to an end the sordid drama of The Canteen Liquor Connection of MOD!
My only regret still remains that the allegation of my so-called sexual exploits with women
employees was also quashed in the bargain, thus proving the obvious!!!
Read Next: A Lesson in Ethics by an Army Officer
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Who else is the beneficiary of CSD Liquor? IndianDefence Review http://www.indiandefencereview.com/interviews/who-else-is-the-beneficiary-of-csd-liquor/
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