Bombay High Court says minor girl depicted 'bad touch' with proper clarity, won't quash ex-Army officer's jail term

The girl's demonstration in court regarding the specific manner in which the accused behaved with her once her father left the room was depicted with immense clarity, the bench said.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has refused to quash a court martial order sentencing a former Lieutenant Colonel to five years' imprisonment for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl, noting the victim was well aware of the "bad touch".

The girl's demonstration in court regarding the specific manner in which the accused behaved with her once her father left the room was depicted with immense clarity, a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale said on Monday.

The bench dismissed a petition filed by the accused, challenging the January 2024 order passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) confirming the five-year imprisonment imposed on him by the General Court Martial (GCM).

In March 2021, the GCM of the Army held him guilty for committing aggravated sexual assault on a minor girl and sexual harassment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

He was sentenced to the minimum punishment of five years' imprisonment.

The former Army officer in his plea in the HC claimed he had no ill intention and that he touched the girl and asked for a kiss only out of "grandfatherly/fatherly" love for the child.

The high court, however, refused to accept this contention and said the victim girl's instinct of identifying a bad touch of the accused must be believed.

The victim in her statement before the GCM has totally denied the suggestion that the accused had not touched her with any bad intent and that it was in the nature of a touch of a parent or grandfather, the HC said.

The girl met the accused for the very first time and there was no reason for him to hold her hand even under the pretext of reading her palm, touch her thigh and request to kiss her, the court said.

"The girl immediately sensed a bad touch and reported as such to her father instantly. In view of this deposition, we are unable to take issues and dissent with the findings of either the GCM or the AFT," the HC bench said.

The high court said it has not found any error with the findings of the GCM and the AFT.

"We do not find any violation of fundamental rights of the petitioner. There is no infirmity in the decision-making process in arriving at the impugned finding by both the GCM and AFT," the bench said.

In his plea, the accused claimed there has been a violation of his fundamental rights as the GCM has not appreciated the evidence in the case properly.

As per the complaint, the accused in February 2020 touched the thigh of the girl, daughter of an army havildar (constable), and asked for a kiss from her.

The havildar had brought his daughter and younger son to the accused's room when he asked to meet them.

The girl immediately called her father and informed him of the incident, after which a complaint was lodged.

The HC noted that the victim has narrated the incident consistently before the GCM, and said her demonstration in court regarding the specific manner in which the accused behaved with her once her father left the room was depicted with immense clarity. PTI SP GK