Court martial of Major Gogoi completed
March 31, 2019 16:16
The court martial proceedings against Major Leetul Gogoi, who was at the centre of the 2017 'human shield' controversy, have been completed and he may face reduction in seniority as a punishment for "fraternising" with a local woman in Srinagar last year, officials said.
The court martial process against his driver, Sameer Malla, who was facing charges of unauthorised absence from the unit, was also completed recently in the Kashmir valley and he is likely to be given a "severe reprimand".
Malla was recruited in the Territorial Army in 2017 and he was posted with 53 sector of Rashtriya Rifles, a counter-insurgency force fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
After completion of Summary of Evidence against Major Gogoi and his driver in early February followed by the initiation of court martial proceedings, the two men have been held guilty on two counts -- "fraternising" with a local in spite of instructions to the contrary and "being away from the place of duty while in operational area", the officials said.
Statements of the accused as well as other witnesses were recorded by the army court and the punishment, which will be vetted by the Army headquarters, has been given, they added.
The Army Court of Inquiry had recommended disciplinary action against Major Gogoi after it indicted him as well as his driver for the Srinagar hotel incident on May 23 last year.
Major Gogoi was detained by police following an altercation with the hotel staff when he was allegedly trying to enter inside with an 18-year-old woman.
The woman had expressed her unwillingness to depose during the court martial proceedings and informed the army authorities that she had given a statement before a magistrate and the same should be treated as her final stand.
-- PTI
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