Lt. Gen. Prashant Kumar Rath was on Friday acquitted of the “intent to defraud” in the Sukna land scam case by an Army court hearing a revision petition challenging his being absolved of the charge.
Lt. Gen. Rath broke down in the court as presiding officer I.J. Singh gave the “not guilty” verdict here.
“After considering the evidence on record and the observations made by the confirming authority, the court adhered to its original findings and found the accused not guilty of intent to defraud,” prosecution counsel Raghavendra Jha said.
The presiding officer said there were no new issue to be deliberated and there was no need to interfere in the earlier findings.
The Eastern Army commander had earlier directed the General Court Martial to reconsider the first charge of “intent to defraud” against Lt. Gen. Rath when he had been acquitted.
Eastern Command GOC-in-C Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh had contended that the court, while appreciating the evidence on record, did not accord due weightage and consideration to certain aspects. “Finding of not guilty with reference to the first charge appears to be perverse,” he had said.
—PTI