Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said India has never attacked any country out of hatred or contempt but if its interests are threatened, 'we will not hesitate to take a big step'.
Army officials said the chopper crashed around 11.45 am when it was returning to the camp's helipad at Sukna, near Silgirui, from a routine mission.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After the reconvened Court of Inquiry (COI) was completed earlier this month, the army initiated the summary of evidence against him at the Eastern Command headquarters in Kolkata from Tuesday and General Prakash was slapped with five charges.
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.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by Lieutenant General (retired) Avadesh Prakash challenging the Court of Inquiry ordered against him in the Sukna land scam case. A bench of Justices V S Sirpurkar and Mukundakam Sharma asked the retired army officer to submit himself to the inquiry to prove his innocence. When senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi tried to point out certain alleged irregularities in the proceedings, the bench snubbed him.
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.
In an interview with CNN-IBN, Lieutenant General Prakash claimed that the Army chief had ensured that he was punished in spite of being not guilty.
The General Court Martial of Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash, indicted in Sukna land scam, will now take place in Guwahati instead of Manipur following his plea and the Armed Forces Tribunal has asked the Army to fix a new date for the trial, which was scheduled to start on June 15.
A Supreme Court judge recused himself from hearing a petition filed by retired Lt General Avadhesh Prakash, who has been facing a court martial for his alleged involvement in Sukna land scam case, on Monday.
The Armed Forces Tribunal on Wednesday granted a six-week extension to the Army to complete "all the process" in the Sukna land scam case, a week after the two-month deadline given by it lapsed. The Tribunal also allowed former Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, against whom a Court of Inquiry (COI) in the case was recently completed at the Eastern Army Command, to leave Kolkata.
A division bench headed by Justice Geeta Mittal asked the army officer to approach the Armed Forces Tribunal to challenge the proceedings against him.
"There is a cover-up going on and we have to find out who is at the bottom of this," Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising said about the land scam case in which Prakash and three other Generals have been indicted by a Court of Inquiry for giving a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to a private realtor to construct an educational institute on a plot of land adjacent to Sukna army base in Darjeeling.
Noting that land scams such as Sukna and Adarsh Society have projected armed forces in a "bad" light, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Wednesday that policies would be framed to bar local military authorities from directly issuing 'no objection certificates' to private realtors.
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.
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.
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 defence minister made the remarks after performing 'Shastra Puja' -- the customary worship of weapons -- at the Sukna-based headquarters of the Indian Army's 33 Corps in Darjeeling district of West Bengal on the occasion of Dussehra.
Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor today "due action," on Thursday, under the Army Act against four generals allegedly involved in the Darjeeling land scam but said dispensing of justice will not be swayed by external considerations like "personal biases" and "media pressure".
Defending his move to initiate disciplinary action against former military secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash in the Sukna land scam, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor said it was the 'best course of action' he took after analysing the facts of the case and on the advice of Union Defence Minister A K Antony.
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Former military secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash was on Saturday found guilty on three counts by an army court in Guwahati in the Sukna land scam involving transfer of 71 acres of land adjacent to the military station in West Bengal. He is the seniormost army officer to face court martial.
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.
The information about senior army officers facing allegations of corruption is "voluminous" and its disclosure would not serve any "public interest", the force has said.
Former Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, indicted in the Sukna land scam, was attached to the Kolkata-based Eastern Command on Wednesday and asked to report there on February 25.
Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, former military secretary who is facing court martial in the Sukna land scam, is likely to approach the Armed Forces Tribunal against the disciplinary action initiated against him by the army.
A top military official, Lt Gen Awadesh Prakash, allegedly involved in the Sukna land scam faces court martial with the Union Defence Minister A K Antony asking army chief General Deepak Kapoor to initiate disciplinary action against the officer.
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.
Former Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, who is facing court martial for the Sukna land scam, on Thursday challenged the punitive action against him, saying Army rules were violated in the case. He approached the Armed Forces Tribunal, seeking quashing of the charges under the Army Act 123 and his attachment to the Western Command. Prakash alleged that the Court of Inquiry conducted by the Eastern Command in the case had violated the Army Rule 180.
Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, the former military secretary against whom court martial proceedings have been initiated by the Army in the Sukna land scam, has been attached to the Western Command and asked to stay in Delhi till further orders."Lieutenant General Prakash has been attached to the Western Command and asked to stay put in Delhi till further orders for summary of evidence is issued," a senior Army officer said on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, Defence Minister A K Antony advised General Kapoor to initiate disciplinary action against Lt General Prakash, as against the Army chief's recommendation to initiate administrative action against his former aide.
Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, who is facing a court martial in connection with the Sukna land scam, has alleged that Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor had not applied his mind before changing his decision to initiate proceedings against him. He also said the fresh court of inquiry ordered by the Armed Forces Tribunal would help bring out new facts and clear his role in the entire case.
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 Indian Army on Monday decided to issue show cause notices to a top General and three other senior officers named in a land scam in Darjeeling, amidst speculation that soon-to-retire Military Secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash may escape sacking.
Nitin Gokhale pays his tributes to one of the finest armies of the world ahead of the 62nd Army Day on January 15, 2011
District Magistrate Rajesh Pandey said 283 birds were reported to have died in and around Sukna area between April 27 and May 4 following which samples were sent to High Security Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal, which confirmed the outbreak of avian flu.
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