JOIN USThe Defence Ministry on Thursday ordered a CBI inquiry against two serving Army officers on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The ministry has forwarded the complaints against Maj Gen Ashok Kumar and Maj Gen S S Lamba to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and has sought a reply, sources said. The CBI will now look into the complaints and report to the ministry whether the cases are maintainable.
The two officers, third in Army hierarchy, had received Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) last year for their “distinguished service of an exceptional order”.
The action came on the direction of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has said that the government would not tolerate corruption at any level. Both the officers could not be contacted.
Officials said the ministry had red-flagged promotion of certain officers in September last year following allegations of impropriety.
The reference to the CBI comes following complaints against some officers, who were considered for promotion. The allegations had also found their way to social media. The complaints came following a meeting of the Special Promotion Board of the Army last year to fill the vacancy of three Lieutenant Generals.
At least 33 officers were considered for the three vacancies. The board had cleared some names which were sent to the Defence Ministry.
After looking into the allegations, officials found that one of the two officers had faced a CBI inquiry few years back over allegations of corruption in a project undertaken by Border Roads Organisation. However, the CBI did not find enough evidence for criminal prosecution and they suggested that the irregularities falls in the ambit of disciplinary procedure guidelines.
The BRO being a mixed cadre organisation, the issue came up before Army, which took a stand that the act pertained to civilian issue and hence action cannot be taken up by them. There was no formal proceedings against the officer as the matter got tossed up at different levels. The officer was considered for promotion as there was no formal proceedings against him, officials added.