`I was mentally prepared'

Anjalli Gupta, the young woman flying officer who has created a storm in the Indian Air Force (IAF), says that she is the seventh woman in the Air Force to face court martial proceedings and the first to be dismissed. She joined the IAF in 2001 on a short-service tenure, which would have come to an end in June 2006 had she not been dismissed from service. She spoke of her plans to Parvathi Menon. Excerpts.

What was your reaction to the verdict of the GCM?

Well, I was initially happy that the two really meaty charges against me out of the original seven could not be proved and were dropped. But I had prepared myself mentally for this.

What are your immediate plans?

I am going to go in appeal to the High Court of Karnataka. The decision of a GCM is final and there is no appellate authority unless you prove that your fundamental rights have been violated. I have first to file a pre-confirmation report to the Chief of Air Staff, which is a representation against the verdict of the GCM.

Your long-term plans?

I would like to get into a field where I can ensure that what has happened to me does not happen to other women. I would like to be able to help and advise women in the defence services.

The court of inquiry set up by the IAF to examine the sexual harassment charges that you made against three officers said that you never appeared before it, despite being informed of the sittings. It has now ruled that there is no evidence to prove your charges. Why did you not cooperate with it?

The court of inquiry was set up at my behest. Unlike in the GCM, I was not the accused but had to lead the evidence. I was being treated as if I was the accused. When the inquiry was set up by Commanding Officer Air Marshal S. Bhojwani in May 2005, I had already filed an FIR [first information report] with the Karnataka police against the three officers and the matter was under investigation. I sent him a letter asking if the GCM could be temporarily stopped while the inquiry committee was in session. The three officers I had accused of sexual harassment were also prosecution witnesses, and I did not want my case in the court of inquiry to be prejudiced. I wrote again to him with the same request in September 2005. On both occasions there was no response. There were just three sittings of the court of inquiry. I was asked by the head of the inquiry to appear before it, to which I replied asking for the terms of reference of the committee. After all, according to the Vishakha judgment, it is a permanent Sexual Harassment Committee and not a court of inquiry that the Air Force should have set up.

The IAF authorities have portrayed you as being whimsical and arrogant as you kept expressing a lack of confidence in your defending officer. In fact, you changed your defending officer eight times. Why?

Well, the answer is simple. I had always been insisting on a defence counsel, a civil advocate who is not in a blue uniform, instead of a defending officer from the Air Force. They never provided me one, or allowed me to get a defence counsel.

In fact, it was only after I was arraigned, the charges were read out, and three witnesses were examined without cross-examination that I got permission to get a civil defence counsel. The first person I employed left because he was harassed and humiliated by the Air Force - his comments are on record in the proceedings of the GCM.

My present defence counsel is Mohan Kumar and I am fully satisfied with him. I think we have a strong case in our hands.