Even as he termed the Army land scandal as an aberration,Defence Minister AK Antony came down heavily on increasing instances of corruption in the top ranks of the military,saying that the government would not tolerate even a single instance of corruption in the armed forces. In his first public interaction after ordering the Army Chief to reverse his decision and order a court martial against key aide Military Secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash,Antony said that even though aberrations do take place,the armed forces deal with it strongly. Already,Army has taken strong action. I do not want to say anything further. We cannot tolerate even a single instance of corruption, Antony said,answering queries on the land scandal on the sidelines of a defence function in the capital on Sunday. The land scandal was an aberration,the minister said,and added that compared to other institutions,the armed forces were much faster at taking action against the guilty,referring to the probe that was completed within eight months of the matter coming to light. Look at the society as a whole,the various walks of life. Compared to many other institutions,the armed forces have a much better system of correcting things and punishing the guilty, the minister said. Insiders are interpreting Antonys public comments on the matter as a strong signal to the Army and the other two wings of the armed forces that no case where senior officers appear to have been shielded against inquiry,would be tolerated in the future. The statement comes days after he intervened in the Army land scandal that had indicted four top Generals,including Lt Gen PK Rath who was set to take over as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (DCAS). The intervention came after Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor toned down the action against one his key aides,Lt Gen Prakash who is one of the seniormost officers of the Army,against the recommendations of the Eastern Army Commander who had ordered the probe. While Army Commander Lt Gen V K Singh,who has been named the next Army Chief,had recommended that Prakash be dismissed from service,General Kapoor had toned it down to a milder administrative action. After an outcry over the perceived letting off of a senior officer in the case,who incidentally retired on Sunday,Antony intervened and directed the Army Chief to order a court martial to bring out the facts of the case.
