AFT quashes court martial of PK Rath
6 Sept 2014 6:04 AM IST
A military tribunal on Friday quashed the court martial of former 33 Corps Commander Lt Gen PK Rath in the Sukna land scam and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Army for ‘loss of honour’ in the case in which he became the first serving three-star rank officer to face disciplinary action.
In 2011, a court martial found him guilty in the alleged scam for issuing a ‘no-objection certificate’ to a private builder for building an educational institution on a 70-acre plot adjacent to the military cantonment in Sukna in West Bengal.
Rath and Lt Gen Avdesh Prakash had faced court martials in the case but Rath was the first to have been punished.
‘The petitioner is acquitted of all charges. He is entitled to restoration of all benefits with 12 per cent interest,’ an Armed Forces Tribunal bench headed by Justice Sunil Hali said in its judgement.
The bench said the petitioner suffered undue harassment and loss of reputation by the act of the respondents which if not compensated would be a travesty of justice.
In 2011, a court martial found him guilty in the alleged scam for issuing a ‘no-objection certificate’ to a private builder for building an educational institution on a 70-acre plot adjacent to the military cantonment in Sukna in West Bengal.
Rath and Lt Gen Avdesh Prakash had faced court martials in the case but Rath was the first to have been punished.
‘The petitioner is acquitted of all charges. He is entitled to restoration of all benefits with 12 per cent interest,’ an Armed Forces Tribunal bench headed by Justice Sunil Hali said in its judgement.
The bench said the petitioner suffered undue harassment and loss of reputation by the act of the respondents which if not compensated would be a travesty of justice.
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