IAF pilot gets jail for stealing remotes, refusing to eat
The Indian Air Force has dismissed a pilot and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment for assaulting his senior, refusing to eat and stealing remotes from the officers' mess. The officer had suffered a knee injury in 2013, following which he was declared unfit to fly a transport aircraft. He has previously claimed his superiors harassed him following his injury.
The Indian Air Force has dismissed a pilot from service and sentenced him to a two-year jail term after he was convicted by a general court martial (GCM) where charges ranging from assaulting his superior to ones like not eating food and stealing remote controls at the officers' mess were leveled against him.After the sentencing, the young flight lieutenant was granted bail by a military court in Delhi where he challenged his conviction and filed an appeal against his punishment."Around 20 charges were leveled against the officer in the GCM where he was found guilty on some of the charges. He was awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment but that has been reduced to two years by the service," an IAF officer said.The IAF officer was a transport pilot and used to fly Antonov-32 cargo planes before he suffered an injury to his knee during a sports event after which he had to be grounded by the service.The charges leveled against the officer in the GCM included refusal to eat food, assaulting a senior officer during his custody in a missile base in Mumbai and stealing TV remote controls from the officers' mess, sources said.The officer had won a gold medal for the IAF in a national shooting championship and had claimed during his trial that he has been facing harassment and was victimised by his superiors since 2013 after he suffered a grievous knee injury after which he was transferred to Bhuj air base in Gujarat.The officer had earlier claimed that his career has been destroyed due to denial of proper treatment by superiors. He was declared permanently unfit to fly a transport aircraft on April 21 last year as he could not recuperate within the two-year mandatory period.The IAF officer's wife is also a serving military personnel and was posted in Delhi. The officer in his plea before the tribunal had also claimed that he be granted bail and his sentence be suspended as he has already been in custody for more than nine months during trial.Meanwhile, hearing the officer's appeal against the GCM order, the armed forces tribunal bench headed by Justice VK Shali said, "We suspend the sentence of the applicant and enlarge him on bail on furnishing personal bond for a sum of Rs 25,000."