Srinagar/Chandigarh, Sept. 6: The army has for the first time attached a general on the charge of misconduct with a junior woman officer.

Major General A.K. Lal, commander of the 3 Infantry Division in Leh, was attached with the 15 Corps Headquarters in Srinagar today following a written complaint lodged recently by Captain Neha Rawat of the Signals Regiment.

A court of inquiry has been ordered. Till the inquiry is complete, Major General Lal will not be assigned any duty but will be drawing his salary. If the inquiry finds substance in the charge, the army could try him.

Captain Rawat has alleged that the general misbehaved with her at a party last week and that she was asked to go on compulsory leave from August 30.

“The army has decided to attach the officer pending inquiry into the allegations levelled by the lady officer,” defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel A.K. Mathur said in Srinagar.

“Lieutenant General A.S. Sekhon, GoC (general officer commanding) 15 Corps, will be supervising the inquiry.”

In Chandigarh, the major general’s family said the charges were false and that it was Captain Rawat who should be probed for misconduct.

“The delinquent behaviour of Captain Rawat is well documented in official reports dated June 14 and August 18,” the major general’s daughter, Silpi Lal Sharma, alleged.

“She has been charged with over-drinking, going around with men, arguing with senior officers and misbehaving, and been asked to rectify her behaviour.”

Major General Lal’s wife Aakansha, speaking from Srinagar, echoed her daughter.

Silpi handed the media photocopies of purported complaints and army action-taken reports against Captain Rawat, but they were hardly legible. Captain Rawat could not be contacted on her mobile.

The harassment complaint is one of several the army has received from its women officers over the past few months.

In July, Captain Megha Razdan of 113 Engineers was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her home in Jammu. Police had merely carried out an inquest presuming she had killed herself, but are now probing if she may have been murdered.

The army had ordered its own inquiry but has not made its findings public.

Defence minister A.K. Antony had told the Lok Sabha yesterday that a foolproof mechanism had been put in place to redress the grievances of women officers who complain of harassment.

Antony said army commanders had been instructed to be more sensitive towards women officers, who were being provided separate accommodation.