NEW DELHI: 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 “fraternizing” 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 — “fraternizing” 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, has been given, they added.
The Army Court of Inquiry had recommended disciplinary action against Major Gogoi after it indicted him and his driver for the Srinagar hotel incident in May last year.
(With agency inputs)