A division bench headed by Justice Geeta Mittal asked the army officer to approach the Armed Forces Tribunal to challenge the proceedings against him.
“Jurisdiction of this court is barred by Armed Forces Tribunal Act. In view of this, the petition is dismissed with liberty to petitioner to approach the tribunal,” Justice Mittal said.
Mr. Rath had approached the court after he was indicted along with former Military Secretary Lt. Gen. Avadesh Prakash in the over Rs 300-crore land scam case in Darjeeling.
The Sukna scam involves the sale of 71-acres of land adjacent to Sukna military station in West Bengal for which the army had issued a no objection certificate to a private realtor.
Besides Mr. Prakash and Mr. Rath, the army probe had indicted Lt. Gen. Ramesh Halgali and Maj. Gen. P. C. Sen in the scam.
