A General Courts Martial (GCM) in Fatehgarh of Uttar Pradesh Saturday found a Lieutenant Colonel guilty of illicit relations with a woman and financial fraud. It sentenced him to two years of rigorous imprisonment and cashiering (dishonourable discharge) from service.
Lt Col Avinash Gupta of the Army Service Corps (ASC), attached to the Rajput Regimental Centre (RRC), Fatehgarh, was ordered to be tried on several charges under the Army Act by General Officer Commanding (GOC) Lucknow Sub Area. Col Abhishek Gupta was the presiding officer of the GCM.
Lt Col Gupta has been found guilty of four charges. The first three charges were under Section 52(f) of the Army Act pertaining to fraudulent transactions, and the fourth charge pertained to ‘unbecoming conduct’ under Section 45, for sharing ‘illicit’ relations with a woman.
Lt Col Gupta had served in the 5001 ASC Battalion at Hisar in 2013 and 2014. On September 14, 2020, while serving with the 57 NCC Battalion, UP, he booked railway tickets for his journey from Lucknow to New Delhi and back, using two 40 per cent concession vouchers issued in his name in 2013, while he was serving at Hisar.
Furthermore, according to the counterfoils of the two vouchers, the journey details specified were from Hisar to Lucknow and back. The officer projected a theory of conspiracy in his court martial to falsely implicate him, by his commanding officer of the 57 NCC Battalion.
However, because the counterfoils of concession vouchers bore the signatures of the officer, over the stamp of 5001 ASC Battalion as the issuing authority, and other circumstances of the case, the GCM found him guilty of both charges.
Falsely claiming house rent allowance
The third charge pertained to fraudulently claiming house rent allowance (HRA) for Delhi, a Class ‘X’ city. His family, comprising his wife and daughter, was staying in Lucknow, a Class ‘Y’ City. His son was at Rashtriya Military School Bengaluru/National Defence Academy (NDA) during the check period.
The officer’s defence was that his mother, who was dependent on him, was staying in Delhi, and his family also resided there. However, considering that ‘mother’ is not included as dependent for selected plea of residence (SPR) and the evidence of his wife, a former Air Force officer, who deposed against him and testified that that she and the daughter stayed in Lucknow, and their visits to Delhi were only as a visitor for three-four days, the court found him guilty of the charge.
The HRA amount of a Class ‘X’ city (Delhi) is higher than that of a Class ‘Y’ city (Lucknow), which the officer had fraudulently claimed.
The fourth charge was under Section 45 of the Army Act, for ‘unbecoming conduct’ for sharing an illicit relationship with a woman, who, as per the evidence of the neighbours, maid and another worker, was staying in his single officer accommodation.
The proceedings had started based on a complaint made by his wife, who had found the woman living in his accommodation. The officer had also transferred the gas connection of the woman to his official accommodation address.
Some medical treatment records from Air Force Hospital, Kanpur, were also produced, which reflected the name of the officer’s wife, who gave evidence at the court martial, stating that she had never visited the hospital.
Additionally, a dependent card was issued by his previous unit, which reflected the accused’s rank as Colonel, although he was a Lieutenant Colonel, and bore the name of his wife. However, the photograph pasted was of the other woman.
The officer’s defence was that the woman was his friend and that she used to visit him regularly. However, considering the evidence that revealed the officer and the woman were behaving in a manner consistent with that of a couple, along with other circumstances of the case, the court martial found him guilty.
The findings and sentence have been announced, subject to confirmation by the convening authority of the court martial.
The findings and sentence have been announced, subject to confirmation by the convening authority of the court martial. (File Photo) 
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