Colonel chargesheeted for hitting on juniors’ wives

The army has chargesheeted a colonel for kissing junior officers’ wives, besides passing lewd remarks at them, pulling their hands for palm reading and dance, and tickling their feet.

Colonel Navraj S Grewal of 13 Sikh Light Infantry (LI), attached with Ferozepur Cantonment faces 18 charges related to the period when he was commanding officer of the unit. The charge sheet reads that on February 23, 2010, at Jalandhar Cantonment, he pulled the hands of junior officers’ wives “improperly” on the pretext of palm reading; and on February 26, March 9, and May 31 that year, repeated the action on the “pretext of dance”.

It suggests that on March 6, 2010, while taking pictures of the wives of two junior officers near Chohal Dam in Himachal Pradesh, he passed a lewd remark at them; and On March 11 that year at Jalandhar Cantonment tickled the feet of an officer’s wife with his foot.

On the same day, says the charge sheet, he passed a lewd remark at another officer’s wife who was in a knee-length dress: “Nice legs, mosquitoes must be having a treat today,” or words to that effect.

On March 26 and April 8 in 2010, he is charged with sending messages of “lewd overtones” on e-mail to the wives of two officers. On April 4, 2010, says the charge sheet, he “twitched the nose” of an officer’s wife, saying “you are such a baby”, and “kissed her on the cheeks”.

On June 30 that year, he is alleged to have remarked to another officer’s better half that he treated her like own wife and that she did not discharge her duties properly; or words to that effect.

On July 1, 2010, he is accused of taking an officer’s wife into his house and bedroom “improperly”. On August 1 that year, he is alleged to have gone to officer’s house in his absence and stayed with his wife for a few hours. In June 2009, he is accused of making the daughter of an officer pass a kiss to another officer’s wife and then saying: “Now Aunty will give kissie (kiss) to uncle,” or words to the effect.

He also faces charges of being absent without leave from March 6 to March 7, 2010, and slapping lance naiks Sukhwinder Singh and Narinder Singh on July 3 that year.

On February 5, 2011, the allegations came to the notice of the authorities, says the charge sheet dated January 18, 2014.

General Court Martial will hold the trial. In his submissions to the Chandigarh bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in a petition yet to come up for hearing, colonel Grewal said the officers’ wives had lodged false complaints to save their husband’s careers after poor performance; and that the charges were barred by limitation.