Former 33 Corps chief Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath, indicted by a court martial on Friday for irregularities in the Sukna land case, was on Saturday awarded a sentence of loss of seniority of two years, 15 years loss of service for pension, and a severe reprimand by the Army court martial at Shillong.
Lt. Gen. Rath is due to retire next year. As a consequence of Saturday’s order on loss of seniority, Lt. Gen. Rath will now be considered to have attained lieutenant-general rank in 2010, instead of 2008 when he actually became a three-star general.
The general’s lawyer said that when Lt. Gen. Rath retires next year, he would have about 40 years of service behind him but in the wake of Saturday’s order this will be only about 25 years for purposes of pension benefits. The quantum of sentence means that Lt. Gen. Rath will continue to serve till retirement. He is the highest ranking serving Army officer ever to be indicted by a court martial.
He was relieved that he had been acquitted of the charge of intent to defraud. “This has removed the stigma haunting me ever since the chargesheet was filed,” his lawyer quoted him as saying, adding that the general was examining various legal options.
The indictment and sentence will be placed before the Army’s Eastern Command, which will decide whether or not to confirm it.