Army officer under scanner over misconduct

TNN 14 July 2009, 08:55am IST
NEW DELHI: The bad news for the 1.13-million strong Army shows no sign of stopping. After a series of meat, cereal, liquor and fuel scandals,

Lucknow-based Central Army Command chief Lt-General J K Mohanty has now ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) against a Brigadier posted in Uttarakhand after charges of misuse of funds and misbehaviour with a woman were levelled against him.

Incidentally, the accused infantry officer was recently approved to become a Major-General. ‘‘If he is guilty, he will be punished. But till now, there are just some charges against him, the veracity of which have to be inquired into,’’ said an officer.

‘‘Only after the CoI will we be able to say if there is a preliminary case for him to be tried through a summary of evidence and subsequent court martial,’’ he added.

Though the case is yet to be established, it is another indicator of the declining standards of probity and discipline in the armed forces.

The court martial against Maj-Gen A K Lal, removed as commander of the strategically-located 3 Infantry Division at Leh in September 2007 after a woman officer accused him of ‘‘misconduct’’ and ‘‘misbehaviour’’, held that he should be dismissed from service.

Incidentally, the names of two Lt-Gens, four Maj-Gens, nine Brigadiers, a Navy Commodore, two Commanders, a Lt-Commander, an IAF Group Captain and a Coast Guard DIG had figured in an earlier list of 21 senior officers facing corruption charges.
Army officer under scanner over misconduct