Lt Gen P K Rath, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff-designate, was on Friday found guilty by an Army court martial in the Sukna land scam, becoming the highest ranking serving officer to be convicted for corruption.
For the first time in the history of Indian armed forces, a serving lieutenant general will face a court martial for his alleged involvement in financial irregularities. Former 33 Corps Commander Lieutenant General General P K Rath will face a court martial starting August 30 for his role in issuing a no-objection certificate to a private realtor for building an educational institution on a 70-acre piece of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal.
The Army Court trying Lieutenant General P K Rath in the Sukna land scam on Wednesday rejected his petition to examine private realtor Dilip Agarwal, saying the defence was given ample opportunity to put questions to Agarwal when he was a court witness.Presiding officer I J Singh took on record the letter purportedly written by Agarwal to the court claiming that Rath was innocent.
Marking the first such trial of a three-star general for involvement in a corruption, the court martial of Lieutenant General P K Rath began in Shillong on Tuesday in connection with the Sukna land scam.
An Army court martial on Saturday ordered a two-year seniority loss, 15 years of loss of service for pension and severe reprimand for Lt Gen P K Rath, a day after finding him guilty in Sukna land scam.
Lieutenant General P K Rath, former commander of 33 Corps of the Army, withdrew his petition against his court martial in the Sukna land scam from the Armed Forces Tribunal in New Delhi, on Tuesday.
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.
A division bench headed by Justice Geeta Mittal asked the army officer to approach the Armed Forces Tribunal to challenge the proceedings against him.
Prathap Kumar Rath, Lieutenant General Rath's brother who faces an army inquiry in the Sukna land controversy, believs the case against his sibling has been engineered.
The Army has charged Lieutenant General P K Rath with granting a No Objection Certificate to a private realtor with an "intent to defraud" even as his counsel has said the Court of Inquiry did not talk about any such intent during its probe in the Rs 300 crore Sukna land scam case.
Lt Gen P K Rath, who is facing court martial in the Sukna land scam case, has alleged in the Delhi high court that there was mala fide intention as the Eastern Command had initiated action against him only after he was designated the Deputy Chief of Army.
Lt Gen P K Rath, who has been indicted along with former Military Secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash in the Sukna land scam in Darjeeling, on Thursday approached the Delhi High Court against his court-martial order.
The West Bengal Archaeology Department found the letters in two bundles while cleaning his ancestral house in Cuttack, Janakinath Bhavan.
Former army commander P K Rath, who was given a clean chit by Armed Forces Tribunal in the Sukna land scam, on Saturday said that the verdict had vindicated his stand while ex-army chief V K Singh demanded that the government should go for appeal against the military panel's judgement.
Virtually indicting former Army chief and Union Minister Gen V K Singh, the Armed Forces Tribunal on Friday quashed the court martial of Lt Gen P K Rath who was punished for his alleged role in a land dealing in West Bengal.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances