CHENNAI: A captain of the Military Nursing Service has won a 17-year battle against her dismissal by the Army with the Chennai bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal reinstating her after concluding that the order to discharge her was "illegal" and "vitiated by fraud and suppression of facts".
The tribunal also directed the ministry of defence and the Chief of Army Staff to pay Captain Latha Sharma Rs 1 lakh as compensation.
Sharma told the tribunal that she was commissioned as an officer in 1983. She had told senior officers that she witnessed the custodial gang rape of another woman officer in October 1992 but the registrar and commandant of the Military Hospital, Secunderabad, tampered with evidence and claimed that the rape did not take place. When Captain Sharma filed a complaint against them, the two officials colluded with the local police and started harassing her, she said.
The Army set up a court of inquiry in February 1993 based on the complaint. But Sharma later moved the Andhra Pradesh high court seeking that the directions to set aside court of inquiry proceedings. She said it had flouted Army rules and did not allow her to make a representation or produce witnesses. Instead, she said, senior officers made attempts to "tarnish her reputation and character".
The Army, through its counsel, denied the allegations and said sharma was a habitual offender, a cheat and had tried to misappropriate funds. The counsel said the alleged victim of the rape had testified before the court that she had not been sexually assaulted. The Army claimed that Sharma had assaulted a brigadier. But it said it would not take any further action against her. The high court disposed her petition in March, 1997 based on this assurance by the Army.
But the Army reneged on its promise and dismissed her from service the same year, she told the tribunal. Sharma again moved the high court in 2003 and, after a protracted legal tussle, the court finally transferred the case to the Armed Forces Tribunal, Chennai in December 2012.
The bench comprising judicial member V Periya Karuppiah and administrative member Anand Mohan Verma noted that the Army had issued a show-cause notice to Sharma in July 1996 and made several charges against her based on the findings from the court of inquiry.
The bench said it was therefore the Army's "solemn duty" to submit pending disciplinary charges before the high court and seek permission to proceed against her. The Army had also stated that it would not take action against Sharma and as such her dismissal was not enforceable, the bench said.
It also said Army rules are applicable to the nursing officials recruited under Military Nursing Service Ordinance but the dismissal of Sharma was not in adherence with Army rules.
Directing the Army to reinstate Sharma the bench ordered that it pay her all arrears including pay, allowances and benefits.
After 17-year battle, Captain Latha to be reinstated in army - The Times of India
The tribunal also directed the ministry of defence and the Chief of Army Staff to pay Captain Latha Sharma Rs 1 lakh as compensation.
Sharma told the tribunal that she was commissioned as an officer in 1983. She had told senior officers that she witnessed the custodial gang rape of another woman officer in October 1992 but the registrar and commandant of the Military Hospital, Secunderabad, tampered with evidence and claimed that the rape did not take place. When Captain Sharma filed a complaint against them, the two officials colluded with the local police and started harassing her, she said.
The Army set up a court of inquiry in February 1993 based on the complaint. But Sharma later moved the Andhra Pradesh high court seeking that the directions to set aside court of inquiry proceedings. She said it had flouted Army rules and did not allow her to make a representation or produce witnesses. Instead, she said, senior officers made attempts to "tarnish her reputation and character".
The Army, through its counsel, denied the allegations and said sharma was a habitual offender, a cheat and had tried to misappropriate funds. The counsel said the alleged victim of the rape had testified before the court that she had not been sexually assaulted. The Army claimed that Sharma had assaulted a brigadier. But it said it would not take any further action against her. The high court disposed her petition in March, 1997 based on this assurance by the Army.
But the Army reneged on its promise and dismissed her from service the same year, she told the tribunal. Sharma again moved the high court in 2003 and, after a protracted legal tussle, the court finally transferred the case to the Armed Forces Tribunal, Chennai in December 2012.
The bench comprising judicial member V Periya Karuppiah and administrative member Anand Mohan Verma noted that the Army had issued a show-cause notice to Sharma in July 1996 and made several charges against her based on the findings from the court of inquiry.
The bench said it was therefore the Army's "solemn duty" to submit pending disciplinary charges before the high court and seek permission to proceed against her. The Army had also stated that it would not take action against Sharma and as such her dismissal was not enforceable, the bench said.
It also said Army rules are applicable to the nursing officials recruited under Military Nursing Service Ordinance but the dismissal of Sharma was not in adherence with Army rules.
Directing the Army to reinstate Sharma the bench ordered that it pay her all arrears including pay, allowances and benefits.
After 17-year battle, Captain Latha to be reinstated in army - The Times of India
