Will challenge Army Chief's order: Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash

New Delhi: Sacked army officer Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash has said that he will challenge Army Chief General VK Singh's decision to dismiss him from the service after he was found guilty by an Army court in the Sukna land scam case.

"I am going to take recourse and challengE the Army Chief's order. General VK Singh has been interested in this case right from the beginning. This is against the basic principles of justice," Lt Gen Prakash said, while speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN.

He said that Gen VK Singh insistent on reviving the age issue despite being told that the case had been closed. "I don't understand why am I am being blamed to be behind the age row. Why was court of enquiry ordered after 6 months of cancelling of MOU on land issue in Sukna. It has been a difficult time both emotionally and mentally. After 40 years of service, any army man looks for honour," he added.

Sacked army officer Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash was found guilty by an Army court in the Sukna land scam case.

He also blamed the Army Chief for being biased towards him. "Age row correspondence between Army Headquarters and Gen Singh took place before I took over as Military Secretary. Gen Singh followed to see that I get punished. He took 6 months to take a decision on my case, that too just before 10 days of my retirement," he said.

"I have not been found guilty in Sukna land case. Punishment given to me is in totally disproportionate to the charges levelled against me. I want to contest. I am following a code of conduct, never interacted with press. Even recommendations and findings of the case were leaked to the media," he said.

Earlier, Gen VK Singh ratified a court martial decision to dismiss former Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash from service. The dismissal means that he will not get any benefits like pension and will not be entitled to use Army rank or any privilege attached with military service.

Lt Gen Prakash is the senior-most officer to have been awarded this punishment by the Army.

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