In what could be called an embarrassment for the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFK) has blamed former army chief and now a Central minister, Gen VK Singh, for harassing a senior officer.
AFK, on Friday, quashed the court martial of Lt Gen (Retd) PK Rath, former commander, 33 Corps, who was punished for his alleged role in the Sukna (West Bengal) land deal.
"The petitioner has suffered undue harassment and loss of reputation by the act of the respondents (VK Singh is one), which if not compensated would be a travesty of justice," AFK observed.
The tribunal allowed Rath's petition in which he has alleged that Gen Singh had given "undue importance" to the case as he had a "serious grudge" against the then military secretary, Lt Gen Avdesh Prakash, who he held responsible for obtaining a commitment from him on his date of birth issue, which stood in the way of his extension of tenure as the chief of the army staff.
"I have suffered much because of this. The tribunal's verdict vindicates my stand," Rath told a news agency over phone from Pune.
On the role of Gen VK Singh in his case, Rath said: "I would not like to get personal in these matters. However, I want to say that no person should be victimised by seniors, and the Army should ensure that similar things don't happen in future."
Meanwhile, VK Singh is reported to have said that the govt should appeal against the verdict, as all procedures had duly been followed during the court of inquiry (CoI) into the alleged scam.
An Army court had found Gen Rath guilty of issuing a no-objection certificate to a private builder in 2011 to construct an educational institution on a 70-acre plot next to the military cantonment in Sukna. Gen Prakash was court-martialled in the case.
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