Court of Inquiry into Sukhna land scam over: Army

NEW DELHI - On the day media reports spoke of a Court of Inquiry (CoI)recommending action against four senior Indian Army officers for their role in a land scam in Sukhna cantonment in West Bengal, the army Wednesday only acknowledged that the inquiry had concluded.

“The Court of Inquiry has been completed and received by Army HQ today. The proceedings of the Inquiry will now be analyzed as per the existing Standard Operating Procedures in accordance with the military law,” an army statement said.

Media reports Wednesday said the COI had recommended “termination of service” of Lt. Gen. Avadhesh Prakash, the Military Secretary at army HQ here and the initiation of court martial proceedings against Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath, whose appointment as deputy chief of army staff has been scrapped by the defence ministry.

According to sources, the army court has indicted the two officers for their role in issuing a no-objection certificate to a private establishment that falsely claimed to be establishing an affiliate of the well known Ajmer-based Mayo College on land adjacent to the Sukhna military station in Darjeeling district.

The CoI is also reported to have recommended administrative action against another lieutenant general and disciplinary action and court martial against a major general.

It is reiterated that the army is amongst the few organizations which is very sensitive to any irregularities and has proactively sought immediate and timely action against those indulging in any wrongs, the statement added.

Prakash is one of the eight Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) at Army HQ who act as advisors to the army chief. As Military Secretary, he is responsible for the promotions and postings of officers.

P.K. Rath was commander of the Sukhna-based 33 Corps when the alleged land scam took place.