SC rejects Prakash plea against court of inquiry

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Lt General (retd) Avadesh Prakash challenging the Court of Inquiry (COI) ordered against him in the Sukna land scam case, reports HT Correspondent.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Lt General (retd) Avadesh Prakash challenging the Court of Inquiry (COI) ordered against him in the Sukna land scam case.

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A bench headed by Justice V S Sirpurkar asked Prakash to cooperate in the inquiry to prove his innocence.

When senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi drew the court's attention to alleged irregularities in the proceedings, the bench said: "Once we start digging, many skeletons will be tumbling out."

However, the SC said Prakash was at liberty to approach it at a later stage if he felt aggrieved by the final outcome.

Prakash had approached the apex court challenging the order of COI after the Armed Forces Tribunal directed a fresh Court of Inquiry giving him opportunity to cross-examine all the material witnesses.

Rohatgi and Jyoti Singh, appearing for Prakash, had alleged it was a case where the trial has not taken place in a fair manner, as witnesses were not examined in presence of the aggrieved officer.

Prakash, who retired from the army on January 31, had contended the COI was bad in law as it was not in accordance with the Army Rule 180 that requires that examination of witnesses have to be done in the presence of the accused officer.