Defence Minister AK Antony on Saturday promised strict action against anyone found guilty in connection with the allegation of wife-swapping at the Southern Naval Command headquarters in Kochi even as doubts were being aired about the Kerala Police’s ability to probe the allegations which the Navy had already rejected.
“The Defence Ministry always takes such issues seriously. Inquiry will be held and strict actions, including dismissal, would be initiated if anyone is found guilty,” Antony said in Kochi a day after he ordered dismissal of a Navy officer found guilty of having illicit relations with the wife of his superior.
“I had received a complaint (regarding the scandal at Kochi Naval base). I sought a report immediately. My understanding is that the Navy and the Kerala and Delhi police forces are looking into it. We will take strict action if anyone is found guilty on the basis of the inquiry, as we have done in the past,” the Minister told mediapersons.
The Government and the Navy had taken stringent actions against the guilty in such cases earlier also, Antony claimed. “I don’t want to elaborate on this as inquiries are on,” he said after commissioning the Online Bill Processing scheme for Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Services at the Southern Naval Command headquarters in Kochi.
A scandal erupted at the Kochi Naval Base recently after the wife of a lieutenant complained about domestic violence and harassment from his superiors and their spouses. She also alleged that her husband had forced her to share bed with his superiors and that wife-swapping was rampant among the senior officers at the Naval base.
A three-man Navy officers’ team of the Kochi Naval base is looking into the issue. The Kochi Harbour Police has registered cases against a Commodore, four lieutenants including the husband, three of his relatives, a Captain and his wife on the basis of the woman’s complaint. The Delhi Police also are probing the allegations after she lodged a complaint with them too.
At the same time, security and legal experts expressed doubts over the ability of the Kerala Police to investigate the alleged sex scandal involving the Indian Navy even as divergent opinions had come up within the police force about the truth of the woman’s allegations and the Navy’s position that the allegation was absurd and that it was just a case of marital discord.
“The police are unlikely to have the required freedom for their investigations within the Naval base especially as the Navy has termed the issue as a mere marital discord. It is only normal for the police to face difficulties in carrying out investigations in a place controlled totally by the Navy,” said a retired DySP who claimed to have experience of probing Navy-related issues.
He said the police could be forced to limit their probe procedures to questioning of some Navy people by calling them to the station or meeting them at the Naval base at their convenience and as per Navy’s permission. “That cannot be a complete probe. After all, this is not the first time such allegations have been made about Kochi Naval base,” he said.
A report in December, 2011 had alleged wife-swapping at the Naval base but the Navy dismissed it as “malicious, baseless and factually incorrect”. Sources said that the Harbour Police would be doing any serious probing only after the Kerala High Court took a decision on the anticipatory bail plea filed by the lieutenant, husband of the woman, on Tuesday.
A leading lawyer of the Kerala High Court pointed out that the Navy had already pronounced the officers facing allegations innocent. “They did so even before a formal probe by its own team was completed. I am not saying that the woman is speaking the truth but I think we can already sense the conclusion of the case,” he said.
The Intelligence wing of the Kerala Police has reportedly found fault with the woman. According to this report, the woman could have dragged in the name of the senior officials in order to strengthen her case against her husband. However, a section in the police is of the view that a conclusion could be drawn only after a detailed investigation.