Defence Minister A K Antony said in Rajya Sabha that in the past five years 11 cases relating to allegations of sexual harassment of lady officers in the armed forces have been reported. Citing the example of Major General A K Lal, who was dismissed last year from service after charges of sexual harassment from Captain Neha Rawat were proven against him, Antony said that inquiries, investigations, GCMs and other punishments have been instituted in all the cases reported, to ensure redressal.
He added that any complaint of sexual harassment from a woman officers is viewed seriously and is investigated
However, the question of Captain Poonam Kaur's dismissal has once again brought into the open the entire debate of whether to have women officers in the armed forces or not and now with the Government's clearance last year, of giving them permanent commission, there are mixed views in the armed forces.
Captain Poonam Kaur of the Indian Army's 5682 ASC battalion posted in Kalka, became the first woman army officer to have been awarded dismissal from service. She was tried for 21 charges under a General Court Martial (GCM) in the Patiala-based 5 Armoured Regiment, which included allegedly having illicit relations with a driver of the battalion, who was detained last year. Ten of these charges were proven, with being guilty for seven of them, and the officer was awarded dismissal from service. The confirmation of the sentence is awaited from the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Western Command, which is in Chandi Mandir.
Capt Kaur, in her mid-20s; who was under house arrest for the past one year, had last year alleged sexual, mental and physical harassment by three male officers of her unit, which included her Commanding Officer. She had complained to the Major General-ASC of the Chandi-mandir based Western Command, under which her unit falls, that she was put under a house arrest, in her official residence as a result of the complaint. She had applied for a married accommodation, citing problems for which she wanted her mother and brother to stay with her. They were asked to leave the official quarter by the officers, said she in her complaint.
Calling it a case of victimisation, Kaur's counsel, retired Colonel Surendra Agarwal told People's Post, "She is being wrongly convicted for those charges, which do not amount to offence.The Army is trying to set an example out of her, that women officers should not level allegations of sexual harrassment agianst thier seniors."
An Ordnance lady officer posted in the north-east, who didn't wish to be identified said that sexual harassment was rampant in the services, as women officers were a minority and till now became officers after six-months, in the army, which irked many male officers. "We are scrutinized for everything we do. We maintain decorum as far dressing goes, but personally when we go out also we are expected to be dressed formally which is not possible and if we don't we are subjected to harassment in the form of receiving vulgar anonymous messages on cell-phones etc ."
About staying the order, Agarwal said that since it had not been confirmed yet, which normally takes two months, there is no question of staying the order or asking for a fresh hearing. All that the officer can do is appeal in the Armed Forces Tribunal, as and when it starts functioning. There is no provision of appeal in the High Court, Supreme Court or in the Army for something like this, he added.
Last year Kaur's counsel Agarwal had sent applications to the President of India, who is also the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, Defence Minister A K Antony and the Army Chief. At the behest of the Defence Minister, the Army Commander of the Chandimandir-based Western Command, Lieutenant General T K Sapru ordered a Court of Inquiry (CoI), on July 15, 2008, to inquire the allegations leveled by Kaur. The Court assembled on July 17, 2008, in Kalka, where the battalion officers named in the case turned the court of inquiry against Kaur, asking to enquire into the 21 allegations leveled by them against her, instead of having an inquiry on them.
The court of inquiry was allegedly misdirected. Capt Kaur was not allowed examine her witnesses, Agarwal said. Kaur was then later attached with the Patiala-based 5 Armoured Regiment, for further disciplinary action.
Also despite Kaur's requests, copies of the convening order of the Court of Inquiry were not made available to her, in which case she could not defend herself, said her counsel.
Major Dimple Singla, posted in Chandi Mandir, too was charged of corruption in 2007, but her order to be dismissed from service was stayed as the matter was taken to the High Court. Singla, however retired after her tenure of 10 years.
Lt Sushmita Chakravarty, committed suicide in June 2006 in the Army's Udhampur-based Northern Command, after shooting herself from a rifle borrowed from the armed sentry outside her house.It was believed that Chakravorty was under depression over her charter of duties assigned, which included arranging and attending late night parties.
The first case of dismissal from service, in the armed forces, was that of Squadron Leader Anjali Gupta of the Indian Air Force (IAF), who was sacked from service in 2005 for indiscipline. Gupta, who was posted in Bangalore, had charged her senior of sexual remarks. the officer in question, Air Vice Marshal Anil Chopra, is now posted in Air Headquarters, Delhi.He was promoted while the lady officer was out of service, and she later approached the High Court.
But there have been cases like that of Major General A K Lal who was awarded 'dismissal from service', in accordance with the Army Act, in the General Court Martial (GCM) which concluded in Bhatinda in September 2008 for the charges of sexual harassment leveled at him by Captain Neha Rawat.
Officers and their wives have told People's Post that opening up of the army to women officers seems to have created more problems than the army can handle. Women were inducted in the armed forces in 1993. Since then they have been facing gender- discrimination at the professional front and cases of sexual harassment, but on the other hand wives of male officers have been complaining against them for 'stealing the affections of their husbands".
Under the army regulations, it is an offence to "steal the affections of a brother officer's wife" or in other words to have an illicit relationship with a fellow officer's wife. With the entry of lady officers the rules are being re-written. It is an equal offence for a lady officer to have a relationship with a married officer, says a senior officer.
An officer confides, "Till now we didn't have lady officers in the armed forces, so such a rule did not exist. Only male officers stealing the affection of a brother's officer's wife earning displeasure and severe reprimand existed, but now with lady officers coming in, such misconducts too are being taken seriously.
Meanwhile, an officer from the Judge Advocate General, the law branch of the army, adds that a Court of Inquiry (CoI) could result in a severe reprimand for the lady officer with a red mark on her dossier. This could range from posting her out of the place where the incident has taken place to not extending her service tenure. While the male can be subjected to all of the above as punishment and also have an additional DV (Discipline and Vigilance) ban placed on him. The ban placed for a limited period, during which if he is due for promotion, could make him miss his next rank.
Following are some of the cases :
An infantry officer, Captain Yashpal Rathi, posted at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), gets involved with an Education Corps lady officer, Lieutenant Rashmi Chopra. The officer's wife writes to the then Army Chief's wife, Mrs. Ranjana Malik, about the extra-marital relationship. Capt Rathi gets posted out of the academy overnight, and is placed under a Discipline and Vigilance (DV) ban for three years . He faces a Court of Inquiry (CoI). Chopra too is called from the Delhi-based 60 Brigade, for the inquiry, and is denied extension after the completion of five years of her service.
An infantry Lieutenant Colonel gets involved with a lady Captain from the Corps of Signals in Allahabad in 2005. The Commanding Officer of the lady officer gets wind of the "good friendship" brewing and posts the lady Captain out.
At the Pune-based Southern Command a Lieutenant Colonel and a lady Captain, both from the Army Ordnance Corps, discovered having an affair. The officer's wife complaints to the Army Chief. The lady officer gets shifted to Ludhiana but continues to threaten the Lt. Col. wife's to withdraw the complaint or else she would go to court to claim damages. The male officer moves to the Kanpur Ordnance Factory.
With wives of defence officers writing to seniors about lady officers getting too close with their husbands, a situation that has gripped the armed forces is far more serious than it appears.
A senior infantry officer's wife told People's Post that, "The Infantry and other such fighting arms do not have women officers. But still there is scope for lady officers coming across these combat officers, during courses and while on their staff postings in formations. But it's for the officer, and more so a married one, to just keep it professional. While such cases among non-combat arms having both male and female officers are equally serious."
Explains a senior officer, posted in the Army Headquarters, that it happens in other professions also. It is normal in the armed forces as well, as they all stay, work, and eat, with each other at the same premises.
Around 945 lady officers in the army, 739 in the Indian Air Force (IAF), and 236 in the Indian Navy have been shouldering responsibilities in the non-combat arms with a maximum of 14 years of service. The non-combat arms for which the women are eligible are Education, Ordnance, Services Corps, Judge Advocate General (the law arm of the forces), Logistics, Signals, Engineers, Air Traffic Control, transport and helicopter aviation. Lady officers have time and again asked for permanent commission in the combat arms. Recently three lady officers from the IAF and one retired from the navy, have also gone to court over grant of the same.
A lady Air Force Officer posted in Air Headquarters, Delhi, questions that why only lady officers are blamed. There have been cases of officers' wives having illicit relations with other officers or male officers trying out the same with lady officers and harassing them.
Like the Israeli armed forces, the US army too has women who are part of the combat arms and are also employed in the non-officer cadre. In the US armed forces the law is slightly different. If the lady is married but not an officer, then she will be exempted from court martial. A married lady officer may be court martialled or severely reprimanded if found guilty. While the law appears harsh for male officers. If found to have a relationship with a woman employee, whether an officer or otherwise, irrespective of the marital status, male officers will find themselves court martialled. The punishment could be even more severe if the woman employee is from the non-officer corps called an enlisted employee and is married.
A case in point that rocked the US Senate was that of Lieutenant Kelly Flinn, the first female B-52 Bomber pilot in the United States Air Force. Flinn facing charges of adultery and insubordination faced court martial and was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1997. The incident sparked widespread media attention in the country. Flinn had a relationship with a colleague married to a female enlisted subordinate. She was charged with a conduct unbecoming of an officer, disobeying a lawful order and making a false official statement.
Eventually Flinn was allowed to resign to avoid court martial, which got criticism for the US Air Force for awarding her a general discharge rather than a dismissal.
A defence psychologist explained that it's nothing abnormal for relationships to flourish at work places. The armed forces are a close knit and conservative society, and with the lady officers as the new entrants into this society, the rules are being re-written. Educated girls are getting commissioned at a young age, with their basic necessities being taken care of. This he added, gives them a spirit of freedom and the adventure to experiment with an unconventional profession taking them to a new high.
With assertion of their new found independence in what was the last male bastion, perhaps these young lady officers are trying to write a new chapter.
