New Delhi: The two army generals facing court martial proceedings in the Sukhna land deal aren’t going without a fight.
A document available with CNN-IBN is Lt Gen PK Rath’s, one of the accused in the land scam, statement before the court of Inquiry that recommended his dismissal which is also the basis for his future defence.
The General also stresses that the MoU was cancelled the moment his superior objected.
General Rath has blown the argument of a Sukhna school being a security threat.
Rath said, ”While proximity to military installation has been shown as a security threat...a state highway passes right through the cantonment which is a public thoroughfare. There is a tea garden inside the military station and encroachments with small habitations within the cantonment.”
At the centre of this controversy is the 71 acres of land that doesn’t belong to the Army and is on lease to a private party. Since the Generals actions overturned an earlier order, which prohibited the development of a tea estate, why not keep his higher command informed?
Gen Rath took on that criticism when he said: ”I am competent enough to take appropriate decision on a local issue that falls entirely within my Corps Zone. It’s not befitting the status of a GoC to keep looking for instructions from his superiors even on a local issue of a minor nature. As the final authority at the 33 corps level without any specific instruction existing to the contrary, I have taken the decision which I clearly felt to be in best interest of the formation I lead...But as soon as it was turned down by my higher authority I took all steps without delay to communicate it.”
General Rath and General Prakash now face court martial proceedings with these arguments.
Allegations of turf battles and favouritism have surrounded this case and the Army would well do itself great service if justice was swift and fair.
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