Scam casualty: Army Deputy Chief’s posting is cancelled

In the first major fallout of an Army probe into a land scam in Darjeeling,the Ministry of Defence has cancelled the appointment of Lt Gen P K Rath as Deputy Chief of Army Staff.

In the first major fallout of an Army probe into a land scam in Darjeeling,the Ministry of Defence has cancelled the appointment of Lt Gen P K Rath,who is being investigated in the case,as Deputy Chief of Army Staff.

Sources said the Ministry has written to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC),withdrawing the appointment of Rath as Deputy Chief due to the ongoing Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the land scam which has also brought two other serving Lt Generals under the scanner. The process to appoint a new Deputy Chief has been initiated,the sources said.

While Rath has been attached to Kolkata for the inquiry,one of the seniormost officers of the Army,Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash,who is the Military Secretary (MS) at Army HQ,has also been called for questioning. This has caused a lot of discomfort in military circles as the MS is in charge of making all key appointments in the Army.

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The case involves granting of NOCs (no-objection certificates) against norms for transfer of 70 acres near the 33 Corps HQ in Sukna to an educational institution that posed as an affiliate of Ajmers Mayo College.

Defence Minister A K Antony has sent a strongly-worded note to Army HQ,asking it to conclude the inquiry soon and fix responsibility at the earliest.

Antony,who has also ordered a separate inquiry,has written that the involvement of senior officers in such matters is not only damaging the image of the Indian Army but will also adversely affect the ability of senior officers to measure up to the expectations of the men they lead.

The repeated involvement of senior officers in such cases,Antony warned,would in the long run weaken the ability of the armed forces to ably handle ever increasing security challenges. He also instructed the Army to ensure that a clear message is sent that corruption is dealt with absolute sternness and promptness.

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Sources said that while the Army had requested that the post of Deputy Chief of Army Staff be kept vacant till the conclusion of the inquiry,it was overruled by the Ministry.

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