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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash has taken leave for ten days beginning Tuesday," senior Army officers said in New Delhi amidst speculation that he was asked to proceed on leave by Army chief General Deepak Kapoor.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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