Lt Gen Rath Convicted of Corruption in Sukna Scam

Re: Lt Gen Rath Convicted of Corruption in Sukna Scam

Sir,

The former 33 Corps Commander was found guilty on three charges by the General Court Martial (GCM), including

1. issuance of the 'No Objection Certificates' to a private Realtor for constructing educational institutions on a piece of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal, sources said.
2. The other charges are signing of MoU with Geetanjali Trust for construction of the educational institute and
3. for not informing his superiors in the Eastern Command about the proposed agreement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qlXDon5fYs

I am intrigued by the excuse of Gen Rath that "he was under tremendous  pressure". That is a very stupid and ridiculous excuse (even if it was true) for a Lt Gen to state in front of the nation. This  will ensure that he wont be able get out of punishment in further appeals against the judgment. Had he stated that he used his best of judgment, he may have escaped in superior court on the grounds that his judgment had gone wrong. Any one could go wrong in his judgment, even courts with full bench after hearing both sides of the case go wrong in their judgments( "the honorable full bench of the  High Court had gone wrong in their judgment is all the Supreme court comments!) as proved by further reversal in verdict in superior courts. Going wrong in ones judgment may not glorify oneself but one can't be punished severely with dismissal or cashiered, or else every time a judgment is overturned, the judges of earlier decisions  will have to be dismissed from service. That would be ridiculous!
Gen Rath did not use his judgment which said it was not exactly right to give clearance but succumbed to pressure from Gen AP. That is a very serious charge which he will find it difficult to escape. He is screwed for this. "Tremendous pressure" means he was trying to avoid some harm Gen AP could have inflicted on him ( a hash posting, a harsh career move that might cause sealing of further progress in the career etc.) So, essentially, he went against of the organization  because he was shit scared of his own career being screwed! Why could he take a stand and resign if he felt so strongly that his judgment said otherwise. He deserves to  suffer the  ignominy of this GCM and punishment but NOT for the charges leveled against him!(issuance of the 'No Objection Certificates' to a private realtor for constructing educational institutions on a piece of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal)

Watch carefully   Defense Analyst Maj Gen Metha's comments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qlXDon5fYs

1. "Dev expected" : How could he expect without the benefit of all the judicial process ?
2. "He knew he would be convicted." : ibid
3. "proves one thing Army judicial system  is fair &  fast &  brings to book any culprit": Fast, yes. How can you conclude that it is fair? Any trial in which the accused is punished heavily  is "fair" is a ridiculous conclusion. If the trial concludes in punishment, then there is all the more room for exploring whether it was really fair or whether the accused was punished more to "set an example" rather than  "being fair". In fact the fundamental difference between the military courts and civil courts is that this overwhelming  emphasis on "setting an example"  and "not exactly being fair".(This is all the more true in summary punishment & SCMs and even GCMs)
4. "no one can get away from a scam": ? Perhaps, the judgment reveals that even highest officials will meet the rigors of the law and that is a good thing.
5. Good example for civil staff to emulate: ?
6. try fast,swiftly, punish them: Punishment is based the outcome of the proceeding, punishment by itself does not elevate it as an example to be emulated. Fast first conviction does not mean the case is over!
7. Quantum of punishment: dismissed cashiered with out pension would be likely punishment: The "defense analyst" has overstepped his "expertise" by such pronouncements. He failed to use his "judgment" on his own limitations/competence by pronouncing the punishment with out the benefit of sitting in the GCM. "Failure to use the judgment of his position", exactly the charge he finds slapped against Lt Gen Rath !
8. Lt Gen A Prakash case influenced by this: Again, the Defense analyst shoots himself in his foot. The pronouncement of AP being guilty is based on his actions and NOT on the basis of Gen Rath being guilty! Why do these "analyst" fail to use their judgments in this gross way?
9. Linked- chances are gen praksh will obviously go against him: Ridiculous comments for ibid reasons!
10. Rath case sends strong signals; Dont let any one get away:  Yes
11. internally, Signal to command, you cant do any thing , have to set the highest level of trust: Yes, that may be the desired outcome also of stiff punishment and that exactly may be the reason the judgment might get reversed.
12. leadership should be above board and beyond doubt: Yes, good comment!

I am pissed off by the "all knowing comments" of the "Defense Analysts" on the pay rolls of the Media! Why can't these analysts analyze before blurting out?

Issuance of the 'No Objection Certificates' to a private Realtor for constructing educational institutions on a piece of land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal is essentially an "error in judgment". In the military, some times "errors in judgment" even cause thousands of people to die unnecessarily, but how many officers get punished/dismissed for such "errors in judgment"?
If "errors in judgment" all should receive severe punishment, many officers would think many times before being prejudicial against their subordinates for reasons other than real ones. Hope you get the idea.

Other charges: Signing an MOU and not informing Eastern Command ! ( How serious could they be? ) I am sure the GCM award of punishment will result in long drawn appeals in the civil courts and  finally might get reversed also. Till we read the "speaking judgment" we can say nothing much (unlike the all knowing Defense Analyst!)

Nath

______________________________________________________________________________
Logical errors are, I think, of greater practical importance than many people believe; they enable their perpetrators to hold the comfortable opinion on every subject in turn. Source: Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy (Book-of-the-Month Club, 1995), p. 93.
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.     - Friedrich Nietzsche
____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________
--- In indianexservicemen@yahoogroups.com, C R Mohan Raj wrote:
>
>
> Lt Gen Rath Convicted of Corruption in Sukna Scam


_____________________.
_______________________________
__________