New Delhi, April 24 :    New Delhi, April 24:  Air Marshal Vinod 'Jimmy' Bhatia, the Western Air Command chief, indicted for flying into Pakistani airspace through the Kargil sector on January 19, is being transferred as inspector-general (IG) in the IAF headquarters. Bhatia retains his rank and status as an air officer commanding-in-chief (AOC-in-C) but his new posting will mean a notional downgrading for the officer and a loss of prestige. But it also means an upgradation of the post of inspector-general. The IG's main responsibility is flight safety. The current inspector-general of the IAF, Air Marshal Bali, is not an AOC-in-C. The Western Air Command is the air force's most strategic operational command. His removal from that post after he was found to have erred on a maiden flight to Kargil airstrip on an An-32 means he is being divested of a responsibility that is often interpreted in IAF circles as the second-most important job after the air chief. The command covers airspace over much of the border with Pakistan in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir. AOC-in-Cs are equivalent to the vice-chief of the IAF. Defence ministry sources said the new posting of the current inspector-general, Air Marshal Bali, has not yet been confirmed. A comprehensive order on Bhatia's transfer, and a new posting for Air Marshal Bali is expected later this week. The order may also name a new AOC-in-C for the Central Air Command where Air Marshal V.K. Verma is due to retire next month. An inquiry carried out by the then Southern Air Command chief, Air Marshal Sekhon, found that Air Marshal Bhatia had flown 11 minutes into PoK airspace. Sekhon was later asked to leave the service after it was found that he had written to former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, seeking his political support to be posted as Western Air Command chief. Sekhon's place in the Southern Air Command has been taken by Air Marshal Asthana. Bhatia has actually been let off mildly, without so much as a censure because the air force headquarters took the view that the transgression was not deliberate. It probably would have settled for just a verbal reprimand had it not been for the army's annoyance with Bhatia who had alleged that his aircraft was fired at from within Indian territory.