Army chief defends Sukna stand

Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, who was directed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony to court martial the Military Secretary in the Sukna land scam, has defended his earlier decision to take less severe administrative action against Lieutenant General Avadhesh Prakash.

Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, who was directed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony to court martial the Military Secretary in the Sukna land scam, has defended his earlier decision to take less severe administrative action against Lieutenant General Avadhesh Prakash.

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“It will not be wise to assume that the action was taken in isolation. I have to be fair, just and also look into the culpability of each individual officer. I can’t put all of them in the same bracket,” Kapoor told CNN-IBN’s Devil Advocate programme. Kapoor was seen to be going soft on his close aide General Avadhesh Prakash.

The Army Chief had ordered disciplinary action against Lieutenant General P.K. Rath for his alleged involvement in the scam but had only taken administrative action against Prakash.

Kapoor said Prakash was only one of his eight Principal Staff Officers (PSOs). “One PSO is as dear or far away from me as the other,” said Kapoor.