Court Martial orders to fire Colonel, awards 3 years in jail for outraging modesty of woman officers

3 min readChandigarhUpdated: Jun 5, 2026 02:11 PM IST

Colonel Anand Kumar, the counsel for the accused, said the trial suffered from various irregularities and that the officer had challenged the manner of recording the evidence in the court martial. (Source: File)

A General Court Martial of the Army on Thursday ordered to dismiss a Colonel of the Army Medical Corps (AMC) from service and sentenced him to three years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for outraging the modesty of two women officers — one Major and the other a Captain.

The Colonel and the women officers were posted as doctors at the Military Hospital, Nasirabad in Rajasthan. The Colonel was attached to Headquarters 97 Artillery Brigade where he faced the Court Martial for sexual misconduct towards the female officer. The sentence will become effective when confirmed by higher authorities.

A charge sheet issued on October 24, 2025 by Commander 97 Artillery Brigade accused the Colonel of six offences under the Army Act. He has been found guilty of five charges and not guilty on the sixth charge. The General Court Martial was ordered by Major General Adarsha Verma, General Officer Commanding, 41 Artillery Division, on October 25, 2025.

The first charge was under Army Act Section 69 (read with IPC Section 354) stating that in November 2022 at Nasirabad, the Colonel allegedly used criminal force against the Major by hugging her with intent to outrage her modesty.

In the second charge, under Army Act Section 69 (read with IPC Section 354), it was alleged that in March 2023 at Nasirabad, he allegedly used criminal force against the same Major, by touching her neck and thigh, intending to outrage her modesty.

In the third charge, under Army Act Section 69 (read with IPC Section 354A(3) r/w 354A(1)(iv)), it was alleged that between March and April 2023, the Colonel is alleged to have made sexually coloured remarks to the Major through WhatsApp messages.

The fourth charge under Army Act Section 45 said that in March 2023 between 2300 and 2330 hours, the Colonel is alleged to have sent obscene material in the form of an image and a video to the Major via WhatsApp, thereby behaving in a manner unbecoming of his position and the character expected of an officer.

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A fifth charge, under Army Act Section 69 (read with IPC Section 354A), said that between February and March 2023, Colonel Singh allegedly made sexually coloured remarks to a woman Captain.

The Colonel was found not guilty of the sixth charge under Army Act Section 69 (read with IPC Section 354A) in which he is alleged to have made sexually coloured remark to a third woman officer of the rank of Major.

Colonel Anand Kumar, the counsel for the accused, said the trial suffered from various irregularities and that the officer had challenged the manner of recording the evidence in the court martial. He had filed applications in the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) alleging serious procedural violations, manipulation, tampering of evidence, and destruction of original records by the Judge Advocate of the GCM, rendering the trial illegal and violative of fair trial rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.

“The officer found additions, alterations, and manipulations in the typed version compared to what was recorded in court in long hand. Also, the GCM admitted photocopies of complaints violating the provisions of BSA 2023,” said Advocate Anand Kumar.