A summary of evidence would be gathered after issuing a charge sheet to the generals and if there is a prima-facie case against them, then a Court Martial proceeding would be initiated.
A decision on the action against four Generals, including military secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash, involved in a land scam in Darjeeling is expected in a couple of days.
"Army chief general Deepak Kapoor is close to finalising the course of action against the three Lt Gens, a Major General and a Colonel, who were earlier found to be 'culpable' in the scam involving the sale of a civilian land adjacent to the Sukna military station near Darjeeling. The decision will come in a day or two," an army source said here.
Lt Gen PK Rath, whose appointment as the deputy chief of army staff was withdrawn following the probe. Eleven Corps Commander Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali, Maj Gen P Sen, apart from Lt Gen Prakash, were named by the army probe for issuing a No Objection Certificate to a private realtor, who falsely represented to open an affiliate of the famed Ajmer-based Mayo College, much against earlier objection from Army authorities.
Only last week, the Discipline and Vigilance (DV) Branch under Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal, the adjutant general in the army headquarters, had upheld recommendations of Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen VK Singh for disciplinary or administrative action against the four Generals in the case.
Reports had suggested that Lt Gen Singh has recommended sacking of Lt Gen Prakash, and disciplinary action against the other three Generals.
Lt Gen Prakash is on the verge of retirement and will be out of the army on January 31. But under Army law, he can still face action within three years of his retirement. The army chief, sources said, could resort to any of the three options against the generals.
One, he could accept the recommendations and order disciplinary action against them, in which case a show cause notice would be issued to the General with a month's time for them to reply.
Later, a Summary of Evidence would be gathered after issuing a charge sheet to the generals and if there was a prima-facie case against them, then a Court Martial proceeding would be initiated to give them an opportunity to defend themselves.
If the Court Martial finds the Generals guilty, then the punishment could range from a censure to cashiering from service.
Secondly, general Kapoor could initiate administrative action against the generals that could also range from censure to a dismissal.
If dismissal is directed, then the procedure for the same would be taken up by the defence ministry, which could mean the president could withdraw appointments of the Generals in the army.
The third option with the army chief is to reject the probe findings and let off the Generals, the source added.
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