JOIN USLt General 'censured' for sexual misconduct
Lt Gen A K Nanda – formerly Engineer-in-Chief and director general of Border Roads Organisation – has been censured for acting against “service decorum”.
The complainant Col SPS Pasricha, who was the technical secretary to Nanda, was also not spared for trying to mislead the court.
“The Chief of Army Staff has administered reproof to both the officers under the regulations of the Army,” Defence Minister A K Antony said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. In army parlance “reproof” is an administrative action that ranges from warning to censure and puts a black spot on the service career of an officer.
Though Nanda retired in October, the reproof was handed over to him before retirement.
In May, Nanda and Pasricha went to Israel on an official tour with their spouses. After their return home, Pasricha's wife complained to Bharati Singh, wife of the Army chief, that Nanda went to her hotel room when her husband was not there and misbehaved with her. Pasricha, too, complained separately.
Nanda’s wife, however, defended her husband. Singh promptly brought the incident to her husband's notice who instituted a Court of Inquiry under the chairmanship of Lt Gen A S Lamba, who was then commander-in-chief of Shimla-based Army Training Command. Incidentally, Lamba took over as the new vice chief of the Army on Monday.
“As per the inquirt report, the allegation against Nanda has not been conclusively established. However, it has been found that the General Officer acted against service decorum. The complainant, on the other hand, tried to mislead the court,” Antony said.
While senior army officers refused to disclose the nature of the “administrative action”, they said it would not have any impact on the pension, which Nanda draws from the army.
The action was taken against both officers as it was “one person's version against other” and none could prove their case conclusively.