Lieutenant-General P.K. Rath, the senior-most serving officer to be convicted for corruption, was on Saturday given a sentence of severe reprimand and two-year loss of seniority by an Army court-martial.
Lt. Gen. Rath will suffer 15 years loss of service for pensionary benefits for being guilty in the Sukna land scam.
The two-year loss of seniority would mean that the officer, who took the three-star rank in May 2008, would be now considered as being promoted as Lt. Gen. from May 2010 only. He has one more year of service left.
Lt. Gen. Rath was found guilty on Friday on three counts, but four other charges, including ‘intent to defraud,' were dropped. He broke down while the judgment was being pronounced.
Gratitude
Expressing gratitude to the GCM for dropping the defraud charges, he said: “This has removed the stigma which has been haunting me ever since the charge sheet was filed.”
The order is subject to confirmation by the Defence Ministry.
Lt. Gen. Rath, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff-designate, was found guilty of issuing a ‘No-Objection Certificate' in the capacity of 33 Corps Commander to a private realtor for constructing educational institutions on a piece of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal.
The other two charges of which he was found guilty are the signing of an MoU with Geetanjali Trust for construction of an educational institute, and not informing his superiors in the Eastern Command about the proposed agreement.
In his order, General Court Martial (GCM) Presiding Officer Lt. Gen. I. J. Singh said: “After carefully considering the case and the statements of the witnesses, it has been found that there is no evidence that the accused could have gained anything or cause injury to anyone.”
“He has never told any officer to keep the matter as secret. Efforts were made to safeguard the interests of the Army by ensuring that security is not compromised, and reservation in the proposed educational institution for the students and family of the Army men,” he said. There was “no deceit or secrecy in the signing of the MoU.”
