IAF rape case: Court hands probe back to cops

COIMBATORE: Investigation in the rape case against Indian Air Force (IAF) flight lieutenant Amitesh Harmukh goes back to the hands of Coimbatore city police. The Additional District Judge (ADJ) Court-I in the city, however, did not allow the police to take the suspect under their custody for investigation. But the police can question the officer under IAF custody.

Earlier, the Additional Mahila Court had ordered the case and the suspect to be handed over to the IAF for court-martial. According to the ADJ Court-I order, police should intimate the IAF in advance for questioning the suspect, and the questioning should be held on the IAF campus. The court also directed the IAF to not intervene in the police investigation. The IAF should provide a feasible atmosphere within the Air Force campus and the IAF authorities should not interrupt the police investigation, the order said.

On completion of the investigation, the police shall prepare two sets of material evidence, one of which should be produced for court martial before the trial begins, and court-martial may proceed in accordance with the Air Force Act, the court said. Following the court-martial judgment, police can take the case to criminal court trial after obtaining permission from the Central government, it said. 

“It is left open for the petitioner (city police) to seek direction after the disposal of the case by the court-martial, as per Section 126 of Air Force Act, that a person convicted or acquitted by a court-martial may, with the previous sanction of the Central government, be tried again by a criminal court,” the order reads.