The former military secretary, Lt. Gen. Avadesh Prakash (Retd), has been awarded the punishment of “dismissal from service” — leading to the loss of pension and rank — by an Army court martial as part of the disciplinary action
against him in the Sukna land scam case after the retired officer was found guilty on three counts relating to “intention to defraud” and “conduct unbecoming of an officer”, defence sources said on Saturday.
Lt. Gen. Prakash retired in January 2010 from the Army but disciplinary action can still be taken against an officer even up to three years after retirement. The court martial verdict will need to be “confirmed” by higher Army authorities before it is implemented. Lt. Gen. Prakash is the senior-most retired Army officer to ever be awarded the punishment of dismissal from service by an Army court martial.
This follows the conclusion of court martial proceedings in Guwahati on Saturday in which Lt. Gen. Prakash was found guilty on three out of four counts. He was, however, found “not guilty” on the fourth count, relating to provisions of prevention of corruption in the Sukna case. Lt. Gen. Prakash, who has denied all charges levelled against him, is likely to challenge the court martial verdict either in the Armed Forces Tribunal or the Delhi high court. Defence sources confirmed that dismissal from service would mean loss of rank altogether. The court martial had begun in June this year.
The Sukna case pertains to the grant of a no-objection certificate by the Army’s Siliguri-based 33 Corps for construction on non-Army land adjoining Army land at Sukna, West Bengal, in February 2009. Lt. Gen. Prakash, then military secretary in New Delhi, was probed for allegedly concealing information and taking undue interest in furthering the agenda of civilian businessman Dilip Agarwal who he allegedly accompanied to Rajasthan.