Jalandhar, Feb. 19 (PTI): Lt-Gen. S.K. Sahni, the first officer in the rank of a general to be cashiered and given imprisonment in a ration scam by a general court martial (GCM), will now have his fate decided by the army chief.

Lt-Gen. Sahni was yesterday sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment and cashiered from service after being found guilty of irregularities in procurement of rations for troops in Jammu and Kashmir. He was the first in the army’s history to go on trial before a GCM in the rank of a general.

Sahni, 65, of the Army Service Corps was found guilty of procuring sub-standard meat and other dry rations for troops deployed on the Siachen mountains and other high altitude areas in 2005.

Sahni, now retired from service, faces the prospect of losing his terminal benefits like pension and gratuity besides the rank. After the GCM report reaches Delhi, his case will go before the army chief for confirmation and thereafter to the defence minister.

If they confirm the conviction and sentence, Sahni can approach the Armed Forces Tribunal in Chandigarh for relief and may be the Supreme Court later. He is the second officer in the rank of a general to be punished by the GCM but his is the first case of such a senior official being sentenced to imprisonment.

Recently, Lt-Gen. P.K. Rath faced severe reprimand and 15 years of loss of service for the purpose of pension by a GCM in the Sukna land scam.

Yesterday, the GCM headed by Lt-Gen. Jatinder Pal Singh held Sahni, who was then the director general of supplies and transport, guilty under six of the nine charges framed against him. Sahni, who is under arrest for the last seven months since the GCM commenced, was also divested of the medals and stars. His plea for bail was rejected. A Court of Inquiry constituted in 2005 had recommended disciplinary action against Sahni after indicting him in the case. A report by the comptroller and auditor general had paved way for action against Sahni. The report revealed that soldiers were supplied wheat, rice, pulses and edible oil past their expiry date.

The auditor has also found a serious lack of competition in filing of tenders for the purchase of ration. In fact, it points out that a single vendor bagged contracts for more than 36 per cent of the purchases. It also said that about-to-expire food items were bought at cheaper rates by contractors and then supplied to army units. On July 10, 2010, the summary of evidence was completed; giving recommendations to continue disciplinary action against General Sahni.

and orders for general court martial were issued.

In this regard, a Court of Inquiry which was constituted in 2005 had recommended disciplinary action against him. After his retirement in 2006, the inquiry was initiated.

Lt Gen. S.K. Sahni is the first three-star general against whom the court martial was ordered by the service, while Lt Gen. Rath was punished first.

His sentence is yet to be confirmed by the superior authorities.

Another Artillery Service Corps officer Lt Gen. S.K. Dahiya was also indicted on corruption charges by an army Court of Inquiry. But he did not face a court martial and only administrative action was taken against him.

Another senior official, Lt Gen. A.K. Nanda was accused of misbehaving with his technical secretary’s wife. The army had ordered a Court of Inquiry to investigate the allegations.

After receiving the Court of Inquiry recommendations, the army had “censored” both Nanda and his technical secretary for their respective roles in the whole episode.

Lt Gen. Avadesh Prakash, who has been named in the Sukna land scam, is at the moment attached to the Eastern Army Command headquater in Kolkata. Disciplinary action was prescribed against him by the former chief of army staff General Deepak Kapoor.

In a sexual harassment case, Major General A.K. Lal, who was commanding a division on the Sino-Indian border in Jammu and Kashmir, was found guilty by a court martial in 2008 on charges levelled against him by a captain serving under him.

Lal was dismissed from service and has now approached the Armed Forces Tribunal against the decision.

In early 2009, two major generals of the Army Ordnance Corps — Anand Swaroop and S.P. Sinha — faced separate charges of irregularities in the purchase of stores.

In 2006, Major General Gur Iqbal Singh Multani was dismissed from service and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for attempting to smuggle large quantities of liquor meant for army canteens to his hometown.

The list of officers facing charges of indiscipline and corruption include Major General B.P.S Mander, who was charged with irregularities in the procurement of dry rations.

Two other major generals —K.T.G. Nambiar and Rana Goswami — were also convicted of financial irregularities.