Chandigarh, March 1
A military court today found a Major-General allegedly involved in the infamous Tehelka scandal guilty of accepting illegal gratification and profession impropriety. The sentence is expected to be announced tomorrow.
The General Court Martial (GCM) trying Major-Gen P.S.K. Choudhary has found him guilty of all three charges levelled against him under various provisions of the Army Act, sources in the Western Command said.
The Major-General was serving as Additional Director-General, Weapons and Equipment, at Army Headquarters, when a sting operation carried out by news portal tehelka.com in 2001 caught senior officers, bureaucrats and politicians allegedly demanding and accepting bribes from the portal’s operatives posing as arms dealers.
The charges against the Major General included demanding and accepting a gold chain, Rs 1 lakh in cash and interacting with representatives of foreign firms without seeking proper approval from the authorities concerned. The charges, under Sections 52(f) and 63 of the Army Act, deal with intent to defraud and acts prejudicial to good order and military discipline, respectively. Conviction under Section 52 carries a sentence of rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years.
According to reports, he later, also publically admitted having demanded and accepted the cash and chain. The court martial of an officer of the rank of a Major-General is a rare instance.
The seven-member GCM, presided over by the Director-General Air Defence Artillery, Lieut-Gen C.S. Chima, and the Deputy Judge Advocate-General, Northern Command, Brig J.K. Deosthale, as the judge advocate, is
being held at Ferozepore. The trial had commenced in May 2004.
General Choudhary, who has since retired from service, is the second officer to be found guilty by a GCM. In January, a GCM held at Chandimandir had found another officer allegedly involved in the scam guilty of similar charges and had sentenced him to four years of rigorous imprisonment besides cashiering from service.
A court of inquiry conducted into the matter after the secretly shot video tapes were aired publically in March 2001 had found six officers, including two other Major-Generals, a Brigadier, a Colonel and a Lieutenant Colonel blameworthy for professional misconduct and had recommended suitable action against them.
While administrative action was reportedly initiated against two Major-Generals and the Lieutenant Colonel, whose services were terminated. The trial by court martial of the Brigadier is under way at Patiala. It is scheduled to re-commence on March 3 after a brief adjournment.
