The Armed Forces Tribunal on Wednesday refused to grant interim relief to Lt. Gen. P. K. Rath seeking a stay on the Summary of Evidence proceedings against him in the Rs 300 crore Sukna land scam case.
Tribunal Chairman Justice A. K. Mathur dismissed Gen. Rath’s petition and allowed the ongoing proceedings against him for issuing No Objection Certificates (NOC) to a private realtor for building an educational institute on a 70-acre piece of land adjacent to the Sukna Military Station in West Bengal.
Unsatisfied by Tribunal’s decision, Gen. Rath’s counsel Ajit K Singh told PTI, “we are now planning to go to the Supreme Court.”
Lt. Gen. P. K. Rath, former 33 Corps Commander, had filed a petition in the Tribunal seeking a stay on the Summary of Evidence on the ground that the Court of Inquiry in the case was still on.
Under the Summary of Evidence, statements of witnesses are recorded before initiating the Court Martial procedures against personnel.
Seeking immediate stay on the proceedings against Gen. Rath, his counsel pleaded that the Army had started recording the Summary of Evidence in the case from Friday at the Eastern Command headquarters in Kolkata, which was “wrong” as the COI was still on.
Published - March 10, 2010 06:50 pm IST
