CHANDIGARH: In a five-year-old case of allegedly accepting bribes to select officer candidates for the armed forces at the Service Selection Centre in Kapurthala of Punjab, the Army has started court-martial proceedings against a Major General and other officers.
The case dates back to a 2021 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into alleged bribery and corruption in army recruitment through Service Selection Boards.
Following an initial probe by Military Intelligence into certain officers allegedly accepting illegal gratification, the Additional Directorate General of Discipline and Vigilance at Army Headquarters approached the CBI in 2021 for a detailed investigation into the scam.
At that time, the investigating agency had registered a case against 23 alleged accused including army personnel and civilians in connection with alleged irregularities at various SSB centres, including Kapurthala.
The searches were then conducted at around 30 locations across the country including Delhi, Kapurthala, Bathinda, Kaithal, Palwal, Lucknow, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Guwahati and Jorhat and the agency had reportedly recovered incriminating material during the investigation.
Sources said that the case is linked to allegations that candidates were cleared through corrupt means after being temporarily rejected on medical grounds.
The alleged scam involved fraudulent clearance through the Review Medical Board, with bribes reportedly ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh per candidate.
One jawan allegedly maintained lists of medically rejected candidates who could be approached for such illegal facilitation.
The Major General was attached to Headquarters Delhi Area earlier this month, while about 20 other officers, some of whom have retired, have been attached to different formations.
Sources said that Section 123 of the Army Act was invoked against the Major General, who headed the centre, on Sunday, as it was his last day of service, to enable the Army to conduct court-martial proceedings against him.
This section empowers the Army to recall retired or discharged personnel accused of committing an offence while serving in the military so that proceedings under the Act can be conducted against them.
Sources said that the probe had then started after complaints were received against a junior officer for being involved in malpractices.
Later on, it emerged that many other insiders and civilians could be involved including some high ranking officials. The Service Selection Centres (SSCs) carries out the Services Selection Board (SSB) tests.
