Chandigarh, June 19
About a month after a lady officer went missing from the military hospital in Jammu, she faces trial by a court martial for being absent without leave (AWOL), it is learnt.
The officer, Lt Jiji U.K., posted with a Electronics and Mechanical Engineers battalion located in Jammu and Kashmir had been admitted to the hospital from where she left for her home town in Kerala on May 21 without permission or intimation.
Sources said that a court of inquiry conducted into the matter by Station Headquarters Jammu recommended disciplinary action against her. The summary of evidence (SOE), which was completed last week, has been forwarded to Headquarters 16 Corps along with a recommendation that the officer be tried by a court martial. She faces a single charge under Section 39 (A) of the Army Act.
The officer had been admitted to the hospital for several days when she received a message from her home town that her grandmother had expired. Hospital authorities, however, declined to give her permission to leave on the grounds that her medical condition did not permit her to travel. A few days later she received another message that her mother was also seriously ill.
Even though the officer gave a certificate that she was willing to travel against medical advice due to family circumstances, permission to leave was refused. Thereafter, she took off on her own. The Army initiated an AWOL report when the mandatory six hours had elapsed after there was no indication as to her whereabouts.
Though the officer left without permission, she later called up her superior officers to tell them about her whereabouts and the circumstances under which she left, and thereafter kept in touch with the authorities. She returned to her unit on June 4.
The sources said that though the officer has a fine professional record, she had complained during the SoE of harassment at the hands of the hospital authorities when she applied for leave.
This is the second known instance in the Army where a lady officer is facing disciplinary action. In an another case, a Major with the Judge Advocate-General's Branch at Headquarters Western Command, Chandimandir, faced a court of inquiry which recommended disciplinary action against her for allegedly demanding and seeking bribes during trials by military court. The SOE in this case has been completed and the matter is pending before Headquarters 2 Corps for further action.
