Indian Army orders Court of Inquiry against Lt Gen Nanda to probe sexual misconduct charges

New Delhi, June 8 (ANI): The Indian Army has ordered a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into charges of sexual misconduct levelled against its Engineer-in-Chief Lieutenant General A K Nanda by a subordinate officer's wife.

According to a senior officer at the Indian Army headquarters, a Lt. General, senior to Nanda, will head the inquiry.. .

The wife of a Colonel, who worked as technical secretary to Nanda, has accused the Lt General of molesting her during an official visit to Israel last month.

Nanda, however, will continue to hold the post of Engineer-in-Chief during the course of the inquiry, the officer stated here on Tuesday.

The alleged victim had submitted a complaint to the Army Chief, General V K Singh's wife Bharti Singh, who is also the President of Army Wives Welfare Association.

After being forwarded the complaint, the Army Chief ordered a preliminary probe by a senior Lt General to see whether prima facie there was any case for further action.

Nanda had headed an eight-member delegation of army officials from his department and some of them were accompanied by their spouses.

Earlier, in an official statement, the Army had stated that there were loopholes in the allegations levelled against Nanda.

The venue and date of start of the CoI, which is the first formal action taken after a preliminary probe establishes a prima facie case, would be decided by the Presiding Officer. (ANI)