FACE-OFF: Uma Gupta, Anjali?s mother, talks to the press outside the court martial venue in Bangalore (above); full dress rehearsal for Air Force Day (below)

It was turning out to be easiest court martial case the prosecuting officer had fought. He just sat with folded hands and watched, while Flying Officer Anjali Gupta and her defending officer handed him victory on a gold platter.

Indian Air Force Officer, Anjali Gupta ? posted as administration in-charge at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), Bangalore ? is being tried for embezzlement of funds, abstaining from duty and misconduct. However, the IAF?s first woman officer to face court martial contends she was framed after she accused three senior officers of sexual harassment.

The court martial, which began early this month in Bangalore, was thrown open for civilian viewing on Wednesday ? and going by the day?s proceedings, the odds are loaded heavily against the 29-year-old flying officer. Anjali Gupta, who unleashed a war against the organisation, is in the dock.

?Efforts have been made to silence me,? the frail-looking, five-foot tall officer said at the court martial. ?My reputation, life and death are at stake,? she said. But the court, which had asked her if she would go with her current defending officer, found her reply out of context.

?Justice in this command and with this court cannot prevail,? Anjali said at the hearing ? a remark that drew the ire of the judge advocate ? who conducts the court martial and is referred to as the ?J?. The ?J? warned that contempt of court proceedings could be initiated against her.

And, all this while, the prosecuting officer just watched from the wings. The case was effortlessly swinging in his favour. Whatever the outcome, it goes without saying that the case has got the IAF into a tizzy. Gupta has charged three senior air force officers at ASTE, Bangalore, of sexual harassment. She first filed a case against them at a local police station in February. And when the police failed to act, she went to the Karnataka High Court and asked for a CBI inquiry. Anjali has also approached the Karnataka State Commission for Women for support.

The IAF is clearly on the back-foot. As the organisation came under flak for allegedly framing Anjali, it pleaded not-guilty by throwing open the court martial for public viewing. ?People can see this is a fair trial,? says an IAF spokesperson.

On Wednesday, the IAF announced that a special court of inquiry ? which would be headed by an officer of the rank of air vice marshal ? would look into Anjali?s charges of sexual harassment. The jury will have two women officer members.

With the matter in the High Court, the police are also swinging into action. It has issued notices to the officers named by Anjali, asking them to report to the police station.

The battle is going to be a long-drawn one ? and Anjali?s family is wishing that it had never begun. ?My daughter is completely shattered. She has been talking of ending her life,? says her mother, Uma Gupta.

Life fell apart for the Guptas, who are based in Delhi, in a matter of months. Gupta says her husband ? a bank officer ? has had a paralytic attack. ?Anjali has not been allowed to travel to Delhi to meet him,? she says. As Anjali is under IAF custody, her mother can meet her for only one hour a day ? in the presence of two lady officers.

Long road to justice

Flying Officer Anjali Gupta did a thorough job of seeking justice. In February, 2005, she lodged a complaint of sexual harassment at the HAL Police Station in Bangalore. She named three superior officers in her complaint. The police did not lodge an FIR. Instead, it sat on it for three weeks. The police station then issued an advisory notice to Anjali, asking her to resolve the issue with her superiors. The notice said that the case was an internal matter of the Indian Air Force and was best left to the superiors to resolve. Anjali then went to the Karnataka High Court, asking for a CBI inquiry into her charges of sexual harassment and corruption in the forces. The High Court issued notices to the CBI and the city police on April 15, 2005, asking them to probe the charges against the three officers mentioned in Anjali’s complaint. The high court bench will take up the matter once it resumes work after vacation. Simultaneously, Anjali approached the Karnataka State Women’s Commission seeking support in her struggle. The Commission is looking into her charges. On April 7, 2005, the woman officer sent a written complaint to the chief of air staff and the ministry of defence, accusing her senior of harassing her. The judicial branch of the IAF studied the charges, after which a court of inquiry was ordered. The Inquiry will be headed by an air vice marshal and have two women officer members. Inquiry proceedings begin on May 2, 2005. Meanwhile, the Bangalore police are getting into action mode. The accused officers were issued notices and asked to report on Thursday. The officials didn’t show up, saying they needed formal permission from the IAF. The ball is now in the police’s court.

V.V.

There was a time when Uma Gupta thought Anjali, second of three daughters, would go places. ?She was the brightest of my three children,? she says about Anjali ? who did her MPhil in psychology from the Delhi University.

Anjali was also the most ambitious of the three sisters. ?She said she did not want to be a school teacher like me,? says Uma. Anjali considered teaching a typical woman?s choice of profession. ?She wanted to do what men think only they can handle,? says her mother. The defence services were an obvious choice.

After training in Dehra Dun, Anjali was first posted to Belgaum and then Bangalore, where she was in charge of administrative services at ASTE. Anjali was the only woman officer in the command, says her mother.

Problems began in January last year. Anjali?s brother-in-law, Jitendra Garg, says three senior officers at ASTE harassed her sexually and mentally. ?They would detain her till late in office and often passed lurid comments,? he says.

All ideas of a chivalrous military world came crashing down. ?My daughter didn?t know whom to turn to,? says Gupta, as she waits for her daughter?s court martial proceedings to begin. The IAF protocol demands that all complaints and grievances be routed through the commanding officer. Anjali?s grievance was against the ASTE commanding officer.

Garg says Anjali met the chief of air staff in January this year to complain against the three officers. The IAF, in turn, reacted by charging her with indiscipline. The IAF says Anjali met the air chief only in April this year. Misconduct charges had already been framed by then.

Allegations have been flying back and forth. Garg claims Anjali has not been paid her salary for four months, which the IAF denies. Anjali?s family says she is being tortured and silenced by the IAF ? she is not allowed to even speak with her lawyer. The air force says she lives in her old quarters and has access to a phone.

?She has been placed in preventive custody only because she has threatened to take her life,? says an IAF spokesperson.

The court has just been adjourned and Anjali walks out of the room. She tells her mother to order lunch at the canteen. Uma Gupta is not sure the canteen will entertain an outcast guest. ?I?m still an air force officer. I won?t let a few men take me for a ride,? says Anjali.

The security closes in on the ?accused? flying officer and leads her away. Uma Gupta walks out of the ASTE campus with the other civilian public. She does not enjoy guest status with the IAF any more.