Indian Gen gets away with sexual harassment

NEW DELHI:Former Army engineer-in-chief of Indian Army, Lieutenant General A K Nanda, who was accused of sexually harassing a colonel’s wife, has been punished with just an administrative reprimand for violating service decorum.The colonel, C P S Pasricha, who was Nanda’s technical secretary, has also been punished with administrative action for “misleading” the court into the incident.As per the inquiry report, the allegation against the Lieutenant General has not been conclusively established. However, it has been found that the general officer acted against service decorum, Indian defence minister A K Antony said in a written reply to a query in Rajya Sabha.On the other hand, the complainant, Colonel Pasricha had also tried to mislead the court. Therefore, the Army chief has administered reproof (which can range from warning to censure) to both the officers under the Army regulations, he added.Though Antony did not explain what actions of Nanda went against service decorum, he did say that any officer who made false allegations against his fellow officers was suitably punished in accordance with provisions of the Army Act.Pension and other emoluments of Nanda, who retired on October 31, will not be affected by the administrative action taken against him. Future promotions of Pasricha, who is still serving, however, are likely to be adversely impacted.Pasricha’s wife had alleged that Nanda, the senior-most officer ever to face such charges, misbehaved with her in a hotel room in Tel Aviv during an official trip in May. Nanda, who headed the eight-member delegation to Israel, some of whom were accompanied by their spouses – Dailytimes