Delhi HC upholds Colonel’s punishment for sharing tour details with another officer’s wife
The Colonel had also allowed his identity card to be photocopied at a Jammu hotel.
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The Colonel had been awarded the punishment of ‘Severe Reprimand’ by the GCM for sharing the tour itinerary as well as handing over his identity card which was photocopied by the staff of the Hotel Asia, Jammu. The Colonel had challenged the sentence of the court martial saying he had earlier been found not guilty of the charge by the GCM but the finding was revised to guilty after the convening authority of the trial sent back the finding to the GCM for reconsideration.
The officer was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers in June 1994. In July 2014, another colonel had allegedly sought the petitioner’s help to assist the wife of a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the ‘topography and climate of Leh’ and also to arrange a guest room for her stay at Leh.
In the order, the Delhi High Court noted that it is the case of the petitioner that he got a call from the woman on September 19, 2014, seeking some information and the petitioner informed her that he was busy and some other officer would assist her. However, she came to Jammu, called the petitioner, and insisted upon meeting him. The petitioner who did not want to offend her and out of sheer courtesy met her at the hotel.
In May 2015, the Colonel proceeded to the prestigious Higher Defence Management Course (HDMC) at the College of Defence Management (CDM), Secunderabad. In early August 2015, the woman reportedly telephoned the Colonel and informed him that she was aware that he was visiting Srinagar between August 24 to August 29, 2015. She insisted upon meeting him for one last time before she left for Goa. She came to Srinagar to meet the officer at the hotel where other officers attending the course were also staying.
On November 25, 2015, the woman’s husband filed a complaint with the Commandant, CDM, against the Colonel alleging that he was guilty of “stealing the affection of his wife”. On November 30, 2015, he filed a matrimonial petition before the Civil Court, Vasco Da Gama, Goa, seeking divorce on the ground of adultery alleging his wife had an extramarital relationship with the Colonel.
On January 1, 2016, the woman sent a handwritten letter to the Director General (Discipline, Ceremonials & Welfare), Army HQ, seeking to ignore her husband’s complaint against the Colonel. However, on January 23, 2016, the woman withdrew her earlier letter and requested that a formal inquiry and investigation be carried out into her husband’s complaint. Thereafter, her husband withdrew his matrimonial petition from the civil court.
In March 2016, the Commandant of CDM, Secunderabad, initiated a one-man inquiry to investigate the complaint and the husband and wife were asked to make a statement, however, they remained absent and the inquiry remained inconclusive. On May 18, 2016, a formal Court of Inquiry was ordered by HQ GOC 15 Corps in Srinagar to investigate the complaints/allegations made by the retired Lt Colonel against the Colonel.
The Court of Inquiry was held between June 27 to August 16, 2016, wherein the couple were examined and the statement of the Colonel was recorded. The GOC 15 Corps held no charge of “adultery” is proved and only an administrative action be taken in the form of “Censure’ against the petitioner on the allegation that his identity card was photocopied by the hotel and he shared his travel dates with the woman.
However, on July 6, 2017, the Colonel was attached to the Junior Leaders Wing, Belgaum, from August 20, 2017, for taking disciplinary action against him. On August 22, 2017, the Colonel was served with a Tentative Charge Sheet containing charges of adultery, on September 19, 2014, and 24/25 August, 2015, on other incidental charges, respectively. On August 11, 2018, the petitioner was issued the final charge sheet (directing the convening of the GCM), with two offences of adultery and a third charge about revealing his HDMC tour programme with the woman.
After these developments, the Colonel filed a petition with the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) which was dismissed. He then filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court allowed the GCM to continue as the top court had decriminalised adultery. However, the Supreme Court restrained the GCM from passing its decision without the permission of the Court.
Before the Delhi High Court, the Colonel stated that the day before the Supreme Court was hearing the matter finally, the GCM was convened and continued until the early hours and pronounced him guilty of the first two charges of adultery and not guilty on the third charge (sharing of information). About the third charge, the GCM held that there was no proof except the woman’s words to indicate that the petitioner had shared the tour programme with her.
On August 2, 2019, the Supreme Court set aside the finding of the GCM with regard to the charges under Section 69 of the Army Act, 1950, and held nothing survives against the petitioner on the charges under Section 497 (Adultery) of the Ranbir Penal Code, 1932. The Court permitted the Competent Authority to proceed with the offence under Section 63 of the Army Act and to reach its logical conclusion.
On February 8, 2020, the competent authority directed the GCM to reassemble for fresh evidence and re-appreciate as well as re-evaluate the evidence and reconsider its not guilty finding on the third charge against the petitioner. On February 19, 2020, the GCM held the Colonel guilty.
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