A Major General rank officer of the Indian Armyassociated with the Assam Rifles was sacked without a pension in connectionwith a two-year-old sexual harassment case against him. An Army General CourtMartial (GCM) had on December 23 recommended the dismissal of the Major Generalfrom service in connection with the case.

He was sacked following permission from Army Chief GeneralBipin Rawat.News agency confirmed that Army Chief General Bipin Rawat hasconfirmed the sentence awarded to the officer.

''The decision of the Chief of Army Staff was intimated tothe Major General by the 2 Corps Commander Lt Gen MJS Kahlon today inAmbala," Army officials were quoted as saying by ANI.As per the ordersissued in this regard, the confirmation of the sentence was signed by the ArmyChief in July itself.

Reacting on the decision of the Army Chief, the MajorGeneral's lawyer Anand Kumar said, "The confirmation of the sentence andits promulgation is illegal as the Major General has not been supplied a copyof court-martial proceedings till date to enable him to file a pre-confirmationpetition despite the orders passed by AFT Delhi."

"His Review Application is also pending and despite that,the sentence has been confirmed by General Rawat who was also made aware of theorder of AFT through a legal notice sent by us. We will challenge thisconfirmation order," he added.

The Army General Court Martial had recommended the dismissalof the officer from service after he was charged under section 354A of the IPCand Army Act 45 which is related to unbecoming conduct of officers in theforce.