Lieutenant General P K Rath gets clean chit in Sukna land scam case

NEW DELHI: The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) on Friday quashed the court martial of former 33 Corps commander Lieutenant General P K Rath, one of the four generals indicted in the infamous Sukna land scam case that rocked the Army five years ago.

Imposing Rs 1 lakh fine on the Army for causing "loss of honour" to Rath, a two-member AFT bench headed by Justice Sunil Hali said, "The petitioner has suffered undue harassment and loss of reputation by the act of the respondents, which if not compensated would be a travesty of justice. The petitioner is acquitted of all charges. He is entitled to restoration of all benefits with 12% interest."

The Army, on its part, said it would decide on whether or not to appeal against the AFT decision in Supreme Court after reading the judgment.

The Sukna scam had erupted in November 2009 when Rath was all set to take over as the new Army deputy chief (information systems and training) after commanding the 33 Corps based in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, under which the Sukna military station falls.

The then military secretary, Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash (who was a close aide to former Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor) and Rath were charged with conspiring to aid the transfer of the 71-acre Chumta tea estate adjacent to Sukna military station to a real estate developer on the pretext of opening an educational institute in complete disregard of all security and other norms.

In his petition to the AFT, Rath had alleged former Army chief Gen V K Singh — now a minister of state in the Modi government — had given "undue importance" to the case since he had a "serious grudge" against Prakash. Gen Singh felt Prakash had been unfair to him in his date of birth controversy.

Rath was punished in 2011 with two years' loss of seniority, 15 years' loss of service for pension and a severe reprimand, while the court-martial against Prakash had recommended his dismissal from service. The other two generals and four other officers named in the case faced only administrative action for failing to do proper "staff work" in the chain of command.

The case had led to an unseemly rift in the top Army brass. Gen Singh, who was the Eastern Army commander when the Sukna case came to the fore, had locked horns with Gen Kapoor, who was perceived to be dragging his feet in the case.