Sack Military Secy, says Indain Army court of inquiry into land scam

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/557988/
 
New Delhi: An Army inquiry into the Darjeeling land scam, first reported by The Indian Express, has recommended “termination of services” of Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash, Military Secretary at Army HQ and one of the seniormost Generals, and court martial proceedings against Lt Gen P K Rath whose appointment as Deputy Chief of Army Staff was later scrapped by the Ministry of Defence.
The inquiry also favoured disciplinary action and court martial against Major General P Sen and administrative action against
Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali, currently commanding the 11 Corps. A separate inquiry has also been recommended against a Colonel of the legal department for giving dubious advice regarding the land deal.
The inquiry found that Prakash was in constant touch with a Siliguri real estate developer, Dilip Agarwal, who brokered a controversial land deal in Darjeeling.
Through phone records, the inquiry established, that Agarwal, who inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to obtain no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the Army to purchase nearly 70 acres near the 33 Corps HQ in Sukna, was in constant touch with Prakash while the deal was being sealed. The NOCs were given after an institution claimed it was an affiliate of the Mayo College in Ajmer and would establish a branch in Sukna. Mayo College denied it had any affiliate.
Apart from establishing the connection between Prakash and Agarwal, the inquiry was also told by Rath, who as the then 33 Corps Commander authorised granting of NOCs, that Prakash used his influence to get the deal through.
Sources said the recommendation for termination of services of Prakash were given by Eastern Army Commander, Lt Gen V K Singh, on the basis of the court of inquiry findings and opinion by the Army’s legal department.
While the recommendations have been forwarded by the Eastern Army command, the onus for action against Prakash, who is one of the seven Principal Staff Officers (PSO) at Army HQ, now lies with Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor.
The Army Chief, sources said, now has the choice to accept the recommendations and terminate Prakash’s services or overrule the matter on sound legal grounds. If the recommendation is accepted, Prakash can either accept dismissal or face court martial proceedings where he can contest the charges against him.