Army chief names retd Lt Gen in his bribery complaint to CBI

PTI

New Delhi, 31 Mar 2012: Army chief Gen V K Singh has named retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh in his complaint to the CBI on the alleged Rs.14 crore bribe offered to him to clear tranche of nearly 600 Tatra trucks.

 

CBI sources said Singh has assured them of providing more material about the alleged bribe offer very soon.

 

The agency has started examining the complaint received yesterday and may question Tejinder Singh in connection with the case, they said.

 

Sources said a call on whether to proceed with a preliminary enquiry or a regular FIR would be taken soon.

 

Tejinder Singh has refuted the allegations. He has also filed a defamation case against the Army chief and other officers.

 

The agency was waiting for a formal complaint from the Army chief regarding details of alleged bribe offer to initiate a formal probe into the matter referred to it by the Defence ministry. CBI officers had met him on Monday evening.

 

The Army Chief had claimed in media interviews that an equipment lobbyist had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore, a matter which he had reported to Defence Minister A K Antony.

 

The Ministry had then recommended a CBI probe into the allegation made by the Army chief.

 

After receiving reference from the Ministry, the agency had asked it to make available a complaint from Singh besides other details such as list of witnesses and supporting documents after which it would initiate its probe in the case.

 

Refuting all the allegations levelled against him, Tejinder Singh’s counsel Anil Aggarwal and S M Pandey had told the Patiala House court these claims of Gen Singh are baseless and intended to defame him.

 

Regarding the alleged offering of bribe, the counsel had told the court that earlier it was said that the Army chief was offered Rs 50 crore bribe but later he changed it to Rs 14 crore.

 

Gen Singh had claimed that a lobbyist, who had "just" retired, offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore for clearing "sub-standard" vehicles and he had  informed the Defence Minister about it.

 

In a suo-motu statement in the Rajya Sabha, Antony had said the Army chief had told him about the bribe offer, which he heard with "shock" and asked him to take action against the person.

 

But the Army chief did not want to pursue the matter for unknown reasons, the minister had said.