Deputy Chief Uday Jaswal resigns from the Ottawa Police Service
Suspended since March 2020 after allegedly sexually harassing 3 female employees
Uday Jaswal, a deputy chief with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS), has resigned from the force, CBC News has learned.
The 23-year veteran with the force was suspended with pay in March 2020 when he was charged with misconduct for allegations of sexual harassment and unwanted touching relating to three female OPS employees — two officers and one civilian.
A disciplinary hearing under the Ontario Civilian Police Commission was scheduled to hear evidence and testimony from complainants for the first time on Monday.
Jaswal's lawyer, Ari Goldkind, brought forward a motion this week to adjourn the start of hearing again, which was denied by the commission, according to Paul Champ, an Ottawa lawyer representing the first complainant to come forward.
The matter against him has now ended, however, since Jaswal has left the force.
Goldkind told CBC that Jaswal tendered a letter of resignation to the Ottawa Police Services board with a full statement, but he had no comment to make at this time on behalf of his client.
"Jaswal's resignation did come as a bit of a relief to my client, who found it validating," said Champ.
"She was looking forward to testifying next week and having her testimony tested, because she has gone through so much at the Ottawa Police Service since she came forward with these allegations. There's many that doubted her, [including] those who were loyal to Jaswal. [She] and her husband went through quite a lot."
Was facing 8 misconduct charges
Jaswal was hired by Ottawa police in 1995. He rose to the rank of superintendent before leaving the city in 2016 to be deputy chief for the Durham Regional Police Service near Toronto.
He rejoined Ottawa police as deputy chief in 2018, before the Ottawa allegations against him came to light in 2019 and an investigation in Durham into allegations of corruption became public.
He was charged in 2020 with six counts of misconduct — three counts of discreditable conduct and three counts of insubordination — under the Police Services Act for allegedly sexually harassing the three OPS employees.
Then last year, he was charged with another two counts of discreditable conduct under the act in connection with the Durham investigation.
Those charges will now be dropped, and Jaswal won't face prosecution for any disciplinary offences now that he is no longer a police officer in Ontario.
According to Ontario's sunshine list, Jaswal was paid $261,635.60 in 2020 — the last year the information has been made available.
With files from Shaamini Yogaretnam