Thaindian News

Former military secretary Lt. Gen. Avadesh Prakash, found guilty by an Indian Army court martial Saturday, is the senior-most Lt. Gen. of the army to be dismissed from service, though after his retirement, for an offence committed while still serving the force.

He is also the sixth three-star officer of the Indian Army to face charges of indiscipline.

Prakash was found guilty on three counts, including intent to defraud and conduct unbecoming of an officer under sections 45 and 52 of the Army Act respectively by a court martial held in Guwahati.

Another Lt. Gen. cashiered from service, also after retirement, was S.K. Sahni of the Army Service Corps earlier this year on charges of corruption in ration supplies to army personnel in a case that dated back to early 2007.

Apart from Avadesh Prakash and Sahni, the army has also court martialed Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath, a serving officer who was convicted in the same Sukna land scam by a court martial earlier this year. Rath is, however, the first serving lieutenant general to be convicted in a court martial.

The former 33 Corps Commander, Rath was found guilty on three counts in the land scam in which a no-objection certificate (NOC) was issued to a private realtor to transfer a 71-acre plot of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal’s Siliguri district.

Another Army Service Corps Lt. Gen. - S.K. Dahiya - was also indicted in a separate case involving irregularities in the procurement of frozen meat for troops posted in Ladakh and discrepancies in procurement of dry rations, in early 2007. Dahiya is now retired from service, though he was awarded a recordable censure by the Northern Army vommander for the offences.

Another three-star general to face indiscipline charges is the former Engineer-in-Chief, Lt. Gen. A.K. Nanda, who was accused of sexual assault by the wife of a junior officer during an official visit to Israel last April.

A court of inquiry had left off Nanda with a “reproof” — or reprimand in common parlance — by the army for acting against service decorum, but the probe report said the charges against him could not be proved conclusively. He too has retired.