Sukhna land scam – Darjeeling

Lt Gen P.K. Rath

The Sukna land scam involves the sale of a 71-acre land adjacent to Sukna military station in West Bengal for which the army had issued a No Objection Certificate to a private realtor.
Lt Gen P.K. Rath was on Friday found guilty in a court martial in the Sukna land scam case. For the first time, a serving general of the Indian Army has been found guilty in a court martial. The sentencing of Lt Gen Rath will take place on January 23. The Sukna land in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

The General has been found guilty on three counts. He's been found guilty of issuing an NoC to builder Dileep Agrawal. He's been found guilty of signing an MoU with the builder. He's also been found guilty of not informing command headquaters. P.K. Rath was commander of the Sukna-based 33 Corps when the land scam took place.
The matter relates to the Army signing an MoU with a private establishment that falsely claimed to be establishing an affiliate of the well-known Ajmer-based Mayo College on land adjacent to the Sukna military station in Darjeeling district in West Bengal.
Major General Ashok Mehta, a former division commander and defence analyst, said this stern action would send the right message down the rank and file that illegal action of officers - no matter how senior they may be - will not be tolerated.

The land scam came into the open in mid-2008 and the names of Avadesh Prakash and P K Rath figured among the senior army officers who influenced the decision to issue the no-objection certificate (NOC) to a Siliguri-based private builder to construct an educational institution on a 70-acre land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal.

The army had ordered a court of inquiry into the Sukna land scam in late 2008, following which former army chief General Deepak Kapoor decided to take minor administrative action as punishment to these officers in early 2009. Sources:    Hindustan Times,  Thr Hindu