New Delhi, Sept. 26 (PTI): Delhi High Court has summoned records relating to ?censures? earned by Chief of Air Staff S. Krishnaswamy and sought to know how he made it to the top post despite having invited adverse remarks in his career.

A division bench of Justices Vijender Jain and H.R. Malhotra issued the directive while hearing a petition made by Air Vice-Marshal Harish Masand, who was denied promotion to the rank of air marshal on the ground that he had earned ?censures? in his career.

Masand, decorated with a Vir Chakra and a Vayu Sena medal, approached the court after officers ?much junior? to him and ?lower in merit? were promoted to the post of air marshal on January 1, 2004.

When Masand?s counsel Keshav Kaushik told court Krishnaswamy had also earned censures, including one as the commander of the air force base in Pune in October, 1990, for a MiG-29 accident, and that then Air Chief Marshal S.K. Mehra called Masand to give expert opinion on it, the bench asked: ?If Krishnaswamy can become the chief of air staff despite those censures, why can?t he (Masand) be promoted to the rank of air marshal?? The court asked additional solicitor-general P.P. Malhotra to get the files from the defence ministry on Tuesday when hearing will resume.

Asked if the entire board of six air marshals could be influenced and get biased against a particular officer, Masand said ?there are people of high integrity in the force?, but somehow some people got influenced by the initiating officer (the chief of air staff).

The additional solicitor-general said at the time of promotion, an officer?s career record, including censures, had to be perused and the decision of not promoting Masand was taken after due consideration.

But referring to amendments in the Air Force Order in 1995, Kaushik said a censure does not carry much significance and one censure cannot be considered more than once.