Lt Gen PK Rath breaks down in Sukna land scam court martial

Lt Gen PK Rath today broke down at the General Court Martial (GCM) where he is being tried in the Sukna land case insisting that he was being treated 'differentially' for an act which did not amount to be an 'offence'.

As Rath's counsel SS Pandey elaborated on the alleged arbitrary treatment meted out by the authorities to the army officer against whom Army Rule 180 was invoked even though his character or military reputation was not harmed', the army officer broke down inside the court.

Presiding officer Lt Gen IJ Singh then adjourned the court for a ten-minute break.

Charging the authorities with launching a 'systemic campaign to victimise Rath,' Pandey told the GCM, "The authorities are releasing classified and selected information to the media. Some media mentioned about a Rs400 crore scam. Where is the scam and where is this Rs400 crore?

"The media was not even aware that the land belonged to the West Bengal government. The entire issue has been blown out of proportion," Pandey said.

He also questioned the genuineness of the documents placed before the GCM by the prosecution.

"According to the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, the documents should be produced through a competent witness, else it cannot be relied upon. How can one believe in the genuineness of the signatures in the documents, executed by various functionaries, which have been produced before the GCM," the defence counsel asked.

Reiterating his objection to the proceedings in the Court of Inquiry (CoI), Pandey said, "Who will examine the biasness of the CoI? Where will it be verified? These issues cannot be raised during the inquiry as said by the prosecution. We can only raise the issues related to the charge. To say that opportunity was given, is neither here nor there."

He said that there was no need to bring the case to this (GCM) stage when the act was no offence at all and there was no proof that Rath had ulterior motive.

"All manipulations were done to prevent him becoming the deputy chief of army. His movements were restricted when he already had the posting order and was about to leave for Delhi. This is abnormal exercise of power by the authorities. While there were others involved in the act, Rath was singled out and meted out differential treatment," Pandey said.