Will not tolerate corruption in Army: Antony

New Delhi, January 31:The government on Sunday said the army has already taken strong action in the Sukhna land scam case, insisting that it will not tolerate even a single instance of corruption in the armed forces.

“Already, army has taken strong action. I do not want to say anything further… We cannot tolerate even a single instance of corruption,” Defence Minister A K Antony said on the sidelines of a function to present awards to the winning tableaux of the Republic Day parade.

Replying to a question on the reasons for advising court martial proceedings against Lt Gen Awadesh Prakash, who has been indicted in the Sukhna land scam, Antony said what happened in Sukhna and in some other cases are “aberrations”.

“Look at the society as a whole, various walks of life. Compared to many other institutions, armed forces has a much better system of correcting things and punishing the guilty,” he said.

Antony said, “You should compare what is going on around. Compared to many other institutions, armed forces and army are doing much better to take action and correct aberrations in the system”.

The Defence Minister asked to look at the positive aspect of the armed forces and its traditions, saying the sacrifices made by jawans and the officers must also be looked at.

“Our jawans and officers are sacrificing their life, their blood, their health to protect every inch of our territory, to safeguard border security. We must salute them and protect their honour,” he said.

–Agencies