New Delhi, January 22
A day after finding Lt Gen PK Rath guilty in the Sukna land scam, an Army Court Martial pronounced its verdict against him today sending a strong signal to wrongdoers in the force.The order is subject to confirmation by the Defence Ministry and Lt Gen Rath has the option to appeal against the verdict in the Armed Forces Tribunal.

The court martial, presided over by Lt Gen IJ Singh, was conducted at Shillong and it today announced that Lt Gen Rath will lose two years of seniority, 15 years of loss of service for pensionary benefits and severe reprimand.

In lay terms, losing two years of seniority means Lt Gen Rath will become junior to all his fellow Generals who are up to two years junior to him. He is slated to retire in March 2012 and this move would effectively end his chances for progression. It will now be deemed that the officer, who was promoted Lt Gen in May 2008, would be now considered as being promoted Lt Gen from May 2010 only.

The forfeiture of 15 years service for pensionary benefits means that his service period will be reduced when the pension is calculated. Lt Gen Rath was found guilty by the court yesterday on three counts but four other charges related to “intent to defraud” were dropped.

Lt Gen Rath, who saw the ignominy of becoming the first serving Lt General-rank officer to be convicted for corruption, reportedly broke down in the court before pronouncement of the judgment. Earlier also, Lt Generals have been court martialled but the convictions have come after their retirement.

Lt Gen Rath, a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff-designate, was found guilty of issuing a no-objection certificate in his capacity as 33 Corps Commander to a private realtor for constructing educational institutions on a piece of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in northern part of West Bengal.

The other two charges for which he was found guilty are signing an MoU with Geetanjali Trust for the construction of an educational institute and for not informing his superiors in the Eastern Command about the proposed agreement.