Navy officer sacked for sexual misconduct

A senior navy officer has been dismissed from service without pension on the charge of having sexual relations with a woman during his posting in Russia while overseeing the refit of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

A senior navy officer has been dismissed from service without pension on the charge of having sexual relations with a woman during his posting in Russia while overseeing the refit of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

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"The discharge orders for Commodore Sukhjinder Singh from service has been issued. The sacking has been approved by the Defence Ministry under the Navy Act," the Ministry officials told PTI here.

Singh was posted in Russia for three years from 2005 and developed a relationship with a local woman. The controversy over their affair broke out after the officer's photographs with her were published in an English daily in 2010.

The photographs were also used as an evidence against the officer during his Court of Inquiry (CoI). "However, the orders are yet to reach him.

It is a government procedure and may take few days time," the officials said. The officer continued to be the Principal Director (aircraft carrier project) of Admiral Gorshkov refit programme after his return to India.

Before being relieved of active duty in wake of the controversy, Singh was posted to the Defence Ministry's Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA). The row broke out when India was finalising the increased cost of aircraft carrier's repair as sought by Russia. India finally agreed to pay USD 2.34 billion for it in February 2010.