New Delhi: The Army has charged Lt Gen P K
Rath with granting NOC to a private realtor with an "intent to
defraud" even as his counsel has said the Court of Inquiry did
not talk about any such intent during its probe in the Rs 300
crore Sukna land scam case.
In the ongoing Summary of Evidence proceedings in the
case, seven 'tentative charges' have been slapped against the
former 33 Corps Commander, which can draw a maximum punishment
of 10 years of imprisonment, Army sources said here today.
Reacting to the defraud charges against his client,
Rath's counsel Ajit K Singh said, "there is a complete
disconnect between the Court of Inquiry (COI) and the charges
being levelled in the Summary of Evidence against my client as
the probe didn't at all talk about any intent of defraud by Lt
Gen Rath."
The defraud charges against Rath have been framed under
the Section 52 of the Army Act, under which the guilty
personnel are liable to face a maximum sentence of 10 years
imprisonment.
Rath is also charged with taking the decision to sign
the MoU and granting NOC "improperly and without authority"
and without "due and proper" examination of security concerns
of the Army installations at the Sukna military station,
sources said.
He is also accused of not informing the Eastern Command
headquarters about 33 Corps' decision to grant NOC to the
private builders for constructing educational institutes
next to the Military Station in Sukna.
-PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 18:54