An Army Lieutenant Colonel has been dismissed from service and awarded three years' rigorous imprisonment by a General Court Martial (GCM) which found him guilty of irregularities in procurement of milk powder.
The GCM found Lt. Col. Kuldeep Singh of Military Farms guilty of irregularities in the procurement of skimmed milk powder worth over Rs 10 crore in Northern Command in Jammu and Kashmir during 'Operation Parakram' and dismissed him from service on Wednesday.
Ministry of Defence PRO Lt. Col. Biplav Nath told PTI that Lt. Col. Singh was cashiered and awarded three years' rigorous imprisonment by the GCM.
The GCM's order in this case in subject to confirmation by the authority concerned, Col. Nath said.
Lt. Col. Singh, who was facing 25 charges including irregularities in purchase of skimmed milk powder, was found guilty in 15 charges by the GCM presided over by the Commander of Artillery Brigade, Brig. S.P. Mehta at Akhnoor-based 10 Division headquarters on August 18, army sources said.
Another army officer of Colonel rank, who was then posted as Director of Military Farms, is also facing a GCM at Narian Brigade headquarters for failure of supervision and technical inspection in this scam.
The GCM was convened after a Court of Inquiry (COI) fixed 25 charges including that of intent to defraud, irregularities, acts prejudicial to good order and military discipline under Army Act against Lt Col Singh and 17 charges including failure to exercise requisite supervision, not taking due action and failure to carry out technical inspection against a Colonel.
The purchase of 1526 metric tonnes of skimmed milk powder were made through local market in violation of all rules by the Lt col during Operation Parakram between January 2001 and August 2003, the sources said.
There was multi-fold increase in the demand of the milk during Operation Parakram. Local purchase of skimmed milk was made despite adequate stocks in army stores and milk powder was illegally shifted to other commands without due sanction from Northern Command, the sources said.