It has been alleged that he was having an affair with the woman Major posted in his unit while he was commanding it.
Acting on the complaint of the wife of a Colonel serving in Bathinda, the Army has ordered a Court of Inquiry to look into allegations that he has been having an ‘affair’ with a woman Major who was earlier serving under his command.
The Colonel belongs to the Army Service Corps (ASC) and the allegations against him had first been levelled after he had relinquished command of his battalion in Rajouri.
It has been alleged that he was having an affair with the woman Major posted in his unit while he was commanding it. An inquiry had been ordered against him at that time too by HQs 16 Corps but he had not been found blameworthy.
Aggrieved by the conclusion of that inquiry, the wife of the Colonel had complained to the Prime Ministers Office, Defence Ministers Office, the Chief of Army Staff among others demanding a full fledged Court of Inquiry against her husband.
Sources also say that the Colonel who has been accused of the misdemeanor is also pursuing a divorce case against his wife in Patiala House court in New Delhi.
The inquiry in Bathinda is being presided upon by Commander of 645 Air Defence Brigade, Brig Manish Kumar. Two officers of the rank of Colonel have been appointed as members of the inquiry.
The inquiry started in October and the Woman Major who is posted in the North East, in Dimapur, has also been called to appear before the inquiry.
There have been many such cases in the recent past where officers who have had ‘affairs’ have had to face General Court Martial and have been dismissed from service. In Bathinda itself, there was a case pertaining to a Colonel from the Corps of Engineers who was dismissed from service for having an inappropriate relationship with the wife of his immediate subordinate. He had been caught by personnel of the Corps of Military Police in the house of his junior officer while the officer was away to another station.
In another high profile case, a Brigadier posted in Binaguri was dismissed from service for having affair with the wife of a Colonel. He was commanding an infantry brigade at the time.
The Army had also ordered the administrative dismissal from service of a Colonel posted in Dehradun for having affair with another officer’s wife.