General Bipin Rawat on Major Leetul Gogoi case: 'Any matter involving moral turpitude and corruption will be dealt with sternly'

Army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Tuesday that any matter involving moral turpitude and corruption will be dealt with sternly in Major Leetul Gogoi’s case, according to  reports .

“Talking about Major Gogoi, I had clearly said that any case of moral turpitude and corruption will be dealt with sternly. A Court of Inquiry has been conducted which has recommended that we should go in for court martial proceedings for whatever he has been found guilty of,” Rawat said.

“Action will be taken based on his guilt that emerges from this. If it’s related directly to moral turpitude then we’ll take action accordingly. If it is something else then a punishment will be given to him according to the crime he has committed,” he was quoted as saying by  ANI.

In August this year, the Court of Inquiry had indicted Major Gogoi on two counts – allegedly “fraternising” with a local woman in a Srinagar hotel and being away from his place of duty.

On 23 May, Gogoi was detained by the police after an altercation at the hotel in Srinagar where he was allegedly trying to enter with a woman. Days later, the army had ordered the Court of Inquiry into the incident after Rawat said in Pahalgam that exemplary punishment would be given to Gogoi if he was found guilty of “any offence”.

A local court in Srinagar had, on 1 September, directed further investigations into the case and asked the police to submit a report by 18 September. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Srinagar had also observed that the investigations into the case were conducted in a casual manner without ascertaining the real facts.

With inputs from agencies