NEW DELHI: The defence ministry has sought a CBI inquiry against two serving major generals for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income and for links to a ‘bribefor-promotion’ scandal in the 1.18-million strong Army.Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday asked CBI to probe the charges against the two Major Generals (names being withheld since CBI is yet to register an FIR in the case) and submit its report at the earliest. “As per the zero tolerance policy against corruption, action has been taken against the two based on several complaints. The minister has asked CBI to investigate all movable and immovable assets of these officers,” a defence ministry source said.While one of the officers is from the Army Service Corps and posted with the Eastern Command in Kolkata, the other is from the Army Ordnance Corps and serving at the Army headquarters in Delhi. Both received the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal) for “distinguished services of an exceptional order” last year.One of the maj-gens had faced a CBI inquiry over corruption charges in a Border Roads Organization project, but the investigating agency had not found enough evidence for criminal prosecution.A ‘bribe-for-promotion’ scandal has been simmering since September last year, especially after minister of state for external affairs and former Army chief General V K Singh had asked Parrikar to crack down on the corruption in promotions in the force, as was then reported by TOI. Even half a mark can make or mar a promotion in the steeply pyramidal structure of the armed forces, where only three to four officers out of every 100 make it to the Maj Gen rank.The defence ministry has red-flagged the special promotion board, in which the two officers under the scanner had figured for the Lt General rank last year. The board, which considered 33 Major Generals for three Lieutenant General vacancies, is still to be declared or “declassified” due to the controversy swirling around the MS branch. There are allegations that money exchanged hands for “favourable consideration” in the board. “If required, the then MS Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla (who retired on September 30) can also be questioned by CBI,” said a source.This is not the first time that the crucial MS branch has come under the scanner. A former Lt Gen who headed the MS branch was even court-martialled, along with another Lt Gen, in the Sukna land scam case in 2009-2010.Gen V K Singh and current Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, of course, also have a history of antipathy towards each other.Just before demitting the chief ’s office in May 2012, Gen V K Singh had placed a discipline and vigilance promotion ban on Gen Suhag, who was then a Lt Gen, for “abdicating responsibility” in handling a botched operation by an intelligence and surveillance unit under him as the 3 Corps commander in Dimapur. The ban was lifted after Gen Bikram Singh took over as Army chief. It paved the way for Gen Suhag to succeed Gen Bikram Singh as the Army chief in 2014.