India, Sept. 28 -- The Delhi High Court has suspended the 10-year jail sentence of an Indian Air Force officer for the alleged offence of raping a woman colleague in 2021. The high court set aside a March 2024 order of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), which had refused to suspend the officer's sentence, and granted him bail on furnishing two sureties of Rs 5 lakh each. It asked the AFT to expeditiously take up the officer's appeal, which is pending since 2023, and dispose it off at an early date. "In the present case, the petitioner does not have any antecedents and has already undergone 4 years out of a 10-year sentence.

"Given that his appeal was preferred in 2023 and is not likely to be disposed of in the near future, there exists a r...