Sukna inquiry report in, pressure on Army chief
By TNN, |
NEW DELHI: The ball in the alleged Sukna land scam case, in which four generals and other officers are in the dock, is now firmly in Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor’s court. And therein lies the dilemma for him because one of the accused generals military secretary Lt-Gen Avadhesh Prakash is one of his closest advisers.
The predicament is all the more acute since Eastern Army Command (EAC) chief Lt-Gen V K Singh, who is slated to replace Gen Kapoor as Army chief on March 31 next year, has recommended "termination of services" of Lt-Gen Prakash with immediate effect. There has already been quite a bit of talk about "a turf war" raging between Gen Kapoor and Lt-Gen Singh in the Army rank and file. All eyes are now on Gen Kapoor to see if he accepts, dilutes or rejects the recommendations and the time he takes to arrive at the decision since Lt-Gen Prakash is slated to retire on January 31.
The court of inquiry (CoI) report in the case, which revolves around the alleged conspiracy to aid transfer of a 71-acre tea estate adjacent to 33 Corps’ Sukna military station in Darjeeling to a real estate developer, was received by Army HQ here from the Kolkata-based EAC Wednesday. The CoI report indicts Lt-Gen Prakash, one of the eight principal staff officers to Gen Kapoor, the then 33 Corps chief Lt-Gen P K Rath and his deputies Lt-Gen Ramesh Halgali and Major-General P C Sen, among others.
The predicament is all the more acute since Eastern Army Command (EAC) chief Lt-Gen V K Singh, who is slated to replace Gen Kapoor as Army chief on March 31 next year, has recommended "termination of services" of Lt-Gen Prakash with immediate effect. There has already been quite a bit of talk about "a turf war" raging between Gen Kapoor and Lt-Gen Singh in the Army rank and file. All eyes are now on Gen Kapoor to see if he accepts, dilutes or rejects the recommendations and the time he takes to arrive at the decision since Lt-Gen Prakash is slated to retire on January 31.
The court of inquiry (CoI) report in the case, which revolves around the alleged conspiracy to aid transfer of a 71-acre tea estate adjacent to 33 Corps’ Sukna military station in Darjeeling to a real estate developer, was received by Army HQ here from the Kolkata-based EAC Wednesday. The CoI report indicts Lt-Gen Prakash, one of the eight principal staff officers to Gen Kapoor, the then 33 Corps chief Lt-Gen P K Rath and his deputies Lt-Gen Ramesh Halgali and Major-General P C Sen, among others.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
