On December 30, 1999, the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government took an unprecedented step of sacking it's temperamental but bright navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat for 'defiance of civilian authority'. This is an impartial account of the incident which shows that the swords were drawn against him much before he became the naval chief and the legal battles he fought to gain his rightful place. It also recounts the events leading to the withdrawal of the President's pleasure in respect of the Chief of the Naval Staff - the constitutional and legal norms which should have been duly followed.