New Delhi:
Will army chief General Deepak Kapoor sack his military secretary? If he does, Lieutenant General Avadhesh Prakash will be the highest ranking official to ever meet this fate?
Over the next couple of days, General Kapoor is expected to take a decision on a land scam next to an army base at Siliguri.
The Eastern Army Commander has recommended the Military Secretary's dismissal, along with disciplinary action against the former commander of 33 Corps in North Bengal, Lieutenant General P K Rath - who took a decision under pressure from Lieutenant General Prakash.
The two are guilty for helping local businessman Dilip Agarwal easily get 70 acres of land, which the army had decided to buy.
Those batting for the accused generals argue:
- Is the alleged involvement of top officers so grave as to warrant dismissal?
- Will the evidence in the case stand scrutiny in a civil court?
- If no money changed hands, what was the officers' crime?
- When the land does not of belong to Defence, where is the land scam?
But the Army chief will have to go beyond the legal aspects. He will have to make sure justice is seen as done - to the rank and file of the Army - while not succumbing to media pressure in this high profile case.
General Kapoor has the following options:
- He can issue a warning and let the Military Secretary retire.
- He can give severe displeasure or a reprimand, which would result in the loss of some benefits
- He can concur with the Army commander and dismiss General Prakash
Outside the armed forces, such a case would have been seen as a minor transgression. But for those in uniform, there are different and higher benchmarks that make a just decision much more difficult.