Sukna Land Scam and Military Laws for the Generals

Controversies have been buzzing around the retired military secretary Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash. On February 22, 2010,  the Armed Forces Tribunal passed a stay order for the court martial proceeding against the tainted general. This stay is against the court martial that was ordered against the general after his indictment by a court of inquiry (COI). This was supposed to proceed on February 25, 2010,  from Calcutta.

The COI had indicted Lt Gen Prakash of the then 33, Corps for using his power and position to facilitate unlawful transfer of land to his alleged accomplice, Dilip Agarwal.

 With this land scam news spreading faster than wild fire, the overall public perception about the top brass in the Indian army is sure to be affected.  It prompts citizens to ask:

• Why do the defence personnel in India have different laws and a different judicial procedure in the country to which we have little information about?
• Why is there so little transparency about laws governing the Indian military forces?
• Do we not have the right to know when such scams happen?

Army Chief Kapoor Wanted Mild ; AK Antony Prefers Strong

The land scam controversy exacerbated when Army Chief, General Kapoor, seemed relucant to deal with against his aide Prakash by taking stringent action, despite an Army Court of Inquiry (COI) reportedly citing prima facie evidence against Prakash as the key player in the scam.

The Union Defense minister Mr. AK Antony, intervened and “advised” that the case should be dealt with sternly and pressed for a court martial instead. Recommended by the COI, General Kapoor approved a court martial against Lt. General P.K. Rath and an administrative punitive action against two others.

Fair Process of Law vs Military Laws in India

There is no question of dount that the Generals should be entitled a fair process and a chance to speak and defend themselves, but considering the current case and some previous ones, many questions are now erupting.

The Indian Army, has been regarded as an incorruptible institute since the 1950s.  Now, it has been affected by series of scandals such as:

• golf cart scandal
• coffin scam
• petrol scam
• arms scam

There are unspoken acts of sexual abuse and rape of women by Indian army personnel in areas such as the North-east and in tribal regions as well.  Several legislations pertain to the armed personnel such as the Border Security Force Act, Coast Guard Act, Indo Tibetan Police Force Act and the Assam Rifles Act.  All these Acts have drawn inspiration from the Army Act 1950 but the average Indian is clueless about the highlights of these laws.

Further, the Indian military court is out of bounds from the “junta.” The Indian judiciary has no control over it. Scams such as these will continue but how do we know whether justice is conducted fairly?

Simply put, we don’t.

Sukna Scam: NOC

A no-objection certificate (NOC) was issued to a real estate agent who falsely claimed to be an affiliate of Mayo College. The purpose was to set up a school which is adjacent to military station Sukhna, Darjeeling district. Some questions that cropped up about this are:

1. How can an NOC be issued without taking into account the area’s proximity to the border?
2. How did Gen Prakash involve other Generals in the scam?
3. How was the border security breached?

Set aside the legal violations of this scam, there are serious economic and moral implications to this highly irresponsible conduct. With terrorist attacks looming large over India, every citizen must raise questions about the prevailing legislations.

Why? Some legislations pose hurdles or offer easy loopholes that affect India's border security and when this happens from within the military itself, it is a wake up call for the whole nation and not just for the top brass.