Op Sindoor: IAF constrained by mandate to not attack Pak military installations: Defence attache
New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI): A controversy has erupted over the remarks by the Indian defence attache in Indonesia suggesting that the Indian Air Force lost fighter jets in the initial phase of Operation Sindoor as it was constrained by the mandate to not attack Pakistani military establishment and only target terrorist infrastructure.
As the purported video of the remarks made by Captain Shiv Kumar on June 10 at a gathering surfaced on Sunday, the Indian embassy in Jakarta said the officer only stated the fact that the Indian armed forces serve under political leadership, unlike some other countries in India's neighbourhood.
The Indian Navy officer was speaking at a seminar on "Analysis of the Pakistan-India Air Battle and Indonesia's Anticipatory Strategies from the Perspective of Air Power" at a university in Jakarta.
The opposition Congress on Sunday cited the reported comments of the defence attache on the loss of aircraft to accuse the government of having "misled" the country.
However, the Indian embassy said in a social media post, "His remarks have been quoted out of context and the media reports are a mis-representation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker."
"The presentation conveyed that the Indian Armed Forces serve under civilian political leadership unlike some other countries in our neighbourhood," it said.
The embassy said it was explained that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to target terrorist infrastructure and the Indian response was non-escalatory.
In his presentation, the Indian defence attache said in view of some "constraints" owing to the mandate decided by the "political leadership", the Indian Air Force could not attack Pakistani military installations in the initial phase operation.
"We did lose some aircraft and that happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment or their air defence system," he said.
"But after the loss, we changed our tactics and we went for the military installations. So we first achieved suppression and destruction of enemy air defence and then that is why all our attacks could easily go through using surface-to-air missiles and Brahmos surface-to-surface missiles," he said.
Around a month back, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said in Singapore that India rectified tactics and hit deep inside Pakistani territory after suffering losses of aircraft in the recent military clashes with Pakistan.
The Chief of Defence Staff did not specify the losses in terms of a number of platforms.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
After the strikes at the terror infrastructure, India informed Pakistan that it does not want to escalate the situation and the strikes were aimed at terrorist bases.
But as Pakistan launched a military retaliation, India responded to it very strongly.
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HC orders preservation of Sunjay Kapur's assets on plea by Karisma Kapoors' children
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed preservation of the assets of late Sunjay Kapur, ruling that all "suspicious circumstances" raised by the industrialist's children from his marriage with actor Karisma Kapoor have to be completely removed by his third wife, Priya Kapur, before the acceptance of his purported last will.
Justice Jyoti Singh passed the interim order on an application filed by Karisma Kapoor's children to restrain Priya Kapur from alienating their father's assets, reportedly worth Rs 30,000 crore.
The interim application was filed in a suit by the children, challenging their late father's purported will of his assets.
"Having heard and on examination of the material on record, I have the considered view that all legitimate suspicious circumstances raised by the plaintiffs will have to be completely removed by defendant number one (Priya Kapur) before the document is accepted as the last will," the judge said.
"Plaintiffs have made out a prima-facie case that the assets which are subject matter need to be protected, preserved, pending disposal of the suit," she added.
Justice Singh ordered that the equity shareholdings in the three Indian companies of the deceased cannot be changed and also restrained the disposal of his personal effects, including artwork.
The court said if the assets are not preserved and Priya Kapur ultimately fails to prove the validity and genuineness of the will, the deceased's children from his marriage with Karisma Kapoor -- his second wife -- and his mother Rani Kapur would be deprived of their legitimate shares.
"I have restrained from alienating, transferring, pledging, liquidating or in any other manner changing the equity shareholdings in the three Indian companies. I have restrained from withdrawing the PF amount. I have restrained from withdrawing monies from the three accounts except to the extent of discharging liabilities towards the children," the judge said.
The court clarified that it has not passed the order with respect to immovable foreign assets.
A detailed copy of the verdict is awaited.
Sunjay Kapur died on June 12, 2025, after collapsing during a polo match in England. He had reportedly suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.
