No scope of personal rivalries in Armed Forces: Raju

Government dismissed reports of factionalism and said there was no scope for 'personal rivalries' in the Armed Forces.

Amid reports of a rift between Army Chief and the Eastern Commander over the issue of four generals facing action in a land scam at Darjeeling,the Government on Monday dismissed reports of factionalism and said there was no scope for personal rivalries in the Armed Forces.

Armed forces are a very,very disciplined organisation and there is no scope for personal rivalries in this, Minister of state for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters here.

Raju was reacting to queries on the possibility of a rift between Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor and his Eastern Commander Lt Gen V K Singh,who is tipped to succeed Kapoor,over action in the Sukna land scam.

Raju said if there was any deviation or irregularity in any procedure,it would be looked into by the concerned service and the Ministry.

Noting that the army has a very structured way of functioning,he said,I dont see personal rivalries coming in the way of their functioning or working. Army Military Secretary Lt Gen Avdesh Prakash,Lt Gen P K Rath,11 Corps chief Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali and Maj Gen P C Sen were indicted by an Army probe into the Sukna land scam which involved issuing of a no objection certificate to a private realtor who falsely claimed to start an affiliate of the Ajmer-based Mayo College.

Following this,Kapoor ordered disciplinary action that could lead to the court martial of Rath and administrative action that could mean a simple censure or dismissal of service of Prakash,Halgali and Sen.

Since Prakash was one of the eight top advisors to Kapoor,there were reports that the army chief was going soft on him despite Lt Gen V K Singh seeking immediate termination of service of the Military Secretary.

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