Lt Gen PK Rath found guilty in Sukhna land scam

New Delhi, Jan 21 (ANI): Lieutenant General PK Rath has been found guilty in the Sukhna land scam by an Army Court in New Delhi on Friday.

Gen Rath faced court martial on three counts -- firstly for providing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the construction of the building next to the Army headquarters in Sukna, secondly for signing a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) with the private builder and thirdly for not informing the Eastern Command headquarters while the process was being carried on by him.

The Court of Inquiry will now pronounce its sentence on Saturday.

Rath is the first General to face court martial proceedings.

This verdict will now have to be confirmed by the Army Chief and the Ministry of Defence.

The land scam came into the open in mid-2008 and the names of Gen Rath and General Avadhesh Prakash figured among the senior army officers who influenced the decision to issue the NOC to a Siliguri-based private builder to construct an educational institution on a 70-acre land adjacent to the Sukna military station in Darjeeling.

The private builder floated a trust - Agarwal Geetanjali Education Trust - to set up an affiliate school of the restigious Mayo College in the area. (ANI)