UP Deputy Commissioner dismissed in Bhopal Jehan Numa Palace sexual harassment case

After six long years, the Uttar Pradesh government has finally taken strict action. Deputy Commissioner (State Tax) Pankaj Kumar, accused of sexually harassing a woman GST officer posted in Noida, has been dismissed from service with immediate effect on Wednesday. The action comes in connection with the incident that took place in August 2018 at the posh Jehan Numa Palace Hotel in Bhopal.

On the night of 5 August 2018, the accused allegedly called the woman officer to Bhopal on the pretext of official work and tried to molest her in the hotel room besides abusing and assaulting her. Showing immense courage, the victim immediately lodged an FIR at Kamla Nagar police station in Bhopal the same night. Police registered a case under IPC sections 294, 323, and 376 (attempt to rape), arrested Pankaj Kumar the very next day, and the court sent him to 14-day judicial custody.

He was suspended the day after his arrest, and a formal departmental inquiry was ordered under the UP Government Servant (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1999. After years of investigation, a 37-page report has now found him guilty on all charges, following which he has been terminated from service.

Speaking to the media, the survivor said, “For six years, my family and I endured a lot. People said all kinds of things, but I never gave up. Today when the dismissal news came, it felt like truth has finally won. This is not just for me but for every woman who wants to feel safe at her workplace.”

Pankaj Kumar still has the option of appeal, but at the departmental level he has received the maximum punishment. The criminal trial against him is still ongoing in a Bhopal court.

Additional info: Bhopal police had filed the chargesheet in 2018 itself, but the trial moved slowly. A few years ago, the High Court directed the lower court to expedite the case. Demands for faster action under the POSH Act and Vishaka guidelines keep surfacing in similar cases.