IAF serves show-cause notice on fighter pilot accused of rape
The 40-year-old wing commander was also indicted by a court of inquiry for violating security protocols at Air Force Station Ambala, one of the foremost fighter bases
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has served a show-cause notice on a fighter pilot, accused of rape and indicted by a court of inquiry for security protocol violation, asking him to explain why his services should not be terminated, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.
The notice was issued to the officer, a wing commander posted at the Ambala airbase, on Thursday, the officials said, adding that IAF has a zero-tolerance policy in such cases, including acts of moral turpitude.
HT reported on Thursday that IAF was initiating strict action against the 40-year-old wing commander accused of rape by a former civilian intern in an IAF establishment and indicted by a court of inquiry for violating security protocols at Air Force Station Ambala, one of the country’s foremost fighter bases. He is serving in a Jaguar fighter squadron there.
The former intern at the Palam-based Institute of Aerospace Safety, which comes under IAF, also accused him of criminal intimidation.
The wing commander faced two separate IAF investigations into the allegations against him — a court of inquiry ordered by the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Air Force Station Ambala, and another by the chief of the Delhi-headquartered Western Air Command. The first probe looked into protocol violation charges and the second into rape allegations. He was commissioned into IAF in June 2007.
The security breach at the Ambala airbase, where IAF has deployed its Rafale and Jaguar fighter planes, involved the officer facilitating unauthorised access to the air force station’s technical area, using smartphones in restricted areas, and circulating photographs of aircraft.
Another wing commander was accused of rape by a 26-year-old flying officer at an IAF base in Srinagar. The flying officer filed a police complaint saying the wing commander raped her on New Year’s Eve and alleged several lapses in an internal investigation by IAF led to further harassment and mental torture. The Jammu and Kashmir Police are investigating the allegations.
Based on the complaint filed by the woman intern on December 1, 2023, at the Connaught Place police station, the Delhi Police filed a first information report (FIR) under sections 376 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and launched an investigation into the allegations of rape and criminal intimidation.
In a 22-page complaint sent to IAF in March 2024, the intern accused the wing commander of taking her to a Connaught Place hotel on the pretext of conducting a stress assessment test on him and raping her, two months after they met during a conference at the Ambala airbase in September 2022.
The wing commander approached the Delhi high court on August 28 seeking a stay on the two IAF inquiries against him.
The fighter pilot’s counsel told the court that the subject matter of the two courts of inquiry against him is the same as that under investigation by the police, and the respondents (Union of India and Others) should be restrained from initiating any action based on the findings of the courts of inquiry.
Additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma, who appeared on behalf of the respondents, said no action was being proposed in respect of the rape charges, which are the subject matter of the investigation under the pending FIR at the Connaught Place police station.
He said the charges based on which action was proposed to be taken pertained to his violating mandatory protocols leading to the breach of security of the Air Force station as well as the country.
“We direct that till the next date, though the respondents will be free to proceed with the disciplinary/administrative action against the petitioner, they will not pass any final orders without the leave of this court,” a bench of justices Rekha Palli and Shalinder Kaur said. The matter will be heard again on November 5.