THREE ARMY GENERALS IN LAND SCAM-India Syndicate and Agency :Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

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01/12/2009
Three Army Generals in land scam, face sack order

In a major embarrassment to the Army, three serving Generals

have been indicted by an Army court of enquiry in a Rs 700 crore

plus land scam at the Sukna military station in Darjeeling in West

Bengal. The three Generals now face a sack order.

The court of enquiry, which concluded Saturday, was constituted

to look into allegations of subverting rules to give a no-objection

certificate to an educational institution to open its premises near

an army institution in Darjeeling.

The court of enquiry has found Lt. Gen. Awadesh Prakash,

"blameworthy", said an official, not divulging further details of

the findings of the report. Lt. Gen. Prakash is currently posted as

Military Secretary at the Army Headquarters in Delhi

Though the Army was tight-lipped about the deal, sources said

Gen Prakash agreed to give away the Army land on long lease to

a private educational firm though the earlier commanders had

rejected the proposal

on security reasons as an Army helipad is close by. Sources also

said that Gen Prakash was promised a plum post by the private

company after his retirement.

Gen Prakash had `coerced' Gen Rath to strike the deal. Since

Gen Praksah was incharge of promotions and other matters,

Gen Rath agreed to the deal. Earlier, the Indian Army had

cancelled the appointment of Lt Gen P.K. Rath as the Deputy

Chief of Army Staff after his name cropped up in the land scam.
A no objection certificate is mandatory for sale of land adjacent

to military stations due to security reasons.

The Army inquiry would also look into documents relating to

the NOC being forged and the original documents rejecting the

NOC being replaced with forged papers in the Army records.
A preliminary Army probe had revealed that the institution

had no connection with Mayo College, the premise under

which the NOC was issued.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony had ordered a probe into the

landscam allegations and on a number of occasions, pointed

outthat even top brass of the Army would not be spared if the

charges against them were proved.

Earlier, the Army had faced scams relating to liquor, fuel

and ration. This is the first time that a land deal is involved.

Incidentally, one of the generals questioned by the court,

Lt-Gen Avadhesh Prakash, is among the eight principal staff

officers to Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor as the military

secretary at the Army HQ in New Delhi.

Lt-Gen Rath was attached to the CoI at the Kolkata-based

Eastern Army Command in October because he was the

commander of the crucial 33 Corps based in Darjeeling

district of West Bengal, under which the Sukna military

station comes, when the alleged land scam took place.

Lt-Gen Rath's then deputy, Lt-Gen Ramesh Halgali , who is

commanding the 11 Corps at Jalandhar at present, and some

otherofficers in the chain in command have also apparently

been indicted

by the CoI.
Source: India Syndicate and Agencies

Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

President,

Indian Ex-Services League,Pinjab & Chandigarh'

Mob.098554-09128, Tele-Fax 0175-5000896.