A major general of the Indian Army has been dismissed based on the order of the general court martial (GCM) in connection with the case of sexual harassment of a young woman officer.
Confirming the dismissal the official, Army chief general Bipin Rawat said that the decision was intimated to major general MS Jaswal by the 2 corps commander lieutenant general MJS Kahlon in Ambala.
An Army GCM on December 23 last year had recommended dismissal of the major general from service in a more than two-year-old sexual harassment.
As per the orders issued in this regard, the confirmation of the sentence was signed by the Army chief in July itself.
The court-martial had recommended the dismissal of the officer from service after he was charged under section 354A of the IPC and Army Act 45.
The incident took place in 2016 when major general Jaswal was posted at Kohima in Nagaland with the Assam Rifles as an inspector general.
The woman officer was handling duties of the judge advocate general (JAG) branch which looks after the legal matters of the three services and was posted in northeast region at the time of the alleged incident.
“After the major general was done with the official work, he allegedly asked the captain to give him a parting kiss and forced himself on her to kiss her on cheeks and lips,” reads the proceeding notes.
According to the complaint, even after the lady officer left his house in a huff, the officer tried to harass her by frequently calling and messaging through his personal staff to meet him before he left the station for another posting.
Major general Jaswal had denied the charges against him levelled by the lady officer.