New Delhi: The Army on Tuesday ordered a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into charges of sexual misconduct leveled against its Engineer-in-Chief Lt Gen A K Nanda by the wife of a subordinate officer.
"A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the charges levelled against Lt Gen Nanda by the wife of a Colonel," said a senior officer in the Army headquarters.
The CoI will be headed by a Lt General senior to Nanda. Nanda would continue to remain in the post of Engineer-in-Chief during the course of the CoI, the officer said.
The wife of a Colonel, who worked as Technical Secretary to Nanda, has accused the Lt General of molesting her during an official visit to Israel last month.
Nanda had headed an eight-member delegation of army officials from his department and some of them were accompanied by their spouses.
The woman had submitted her complaint to Army Chief Gen V K Singh's wife Bharti Singh, who is also the President of Army Wives Welfare Association. She forwarded the complaint to the Army Chief who had ordered a preliminary probe by a senior Lt General to see whether prima facie there was any case for further action.
In an official statement earlier, the Army had said that there were loopholes in the allegations levelled against Nanda.
The venue and date of start of the CoI, which is the first formal action taken after a preliminary probe establishes a prima facie case, would be decided by the Presiding Officer.
The CoI would now call the complainant and the respondent to present their side of the case by presenting witnesses on their behalf and also allowing for cross examination of the witnesses.
The outcome of the CoI would be communicated to the Army Chief for further action, if necessary.
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