Army Chief Gen VK Singh says he was offered Rs 14 crore bribe

CNN-IBN

New Delhi, 26 March 2012: In a startling revelation Army Chief General VK Singh has claimed that he was offered bribe to clear the purchase of vehicles for the forces. General VK Singh said that he was offered a bribe worth Rs 14 crore by an equipment lobbyist to have a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles cleared for purchase.

 

General Singh also said that 7,000 of those sub-standard vehicles were already in use in the Army and had been sold over the years at exorbitant prices.

 

In an interview to national daily ’The Hindu’ General Singh said, "One of these men had the gumption to walk up to me and tell me that if I cleared the tranche, he would give me Rs 14 crore. He was offering a bribe to me, to the Army Chief. He told me that people had taken money before me and they will take money after me."

 

He also said that he reported the incident to Defence Minister AK Antony.

 

 

When asked how the Army Chief could be offered a bribe, he said, "Obviously somewhere our standards of probity and integrity have fallen."

 

The Army Chief, who recently lost his date of birth battle, said, he was targeted as he cracked down on corruption in the Army. "Things are fast unravelling and you will soon see the hand behind the drama. You will soon see who the sutradhar of the play is."

 

Reacting to the Army Chief’s comments, Major General (Retd) Satbir Singh said, "It is a matter that needs to be gone into in detail. If this information was given to the Defence Minister and no action was taken then this is a serious matter."

 

Meanwhile, the Opposition is set to corner the government over the Army Chief’s claims. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given a notice for the suspension of Question hour. "What General VK Singh has said is a serious matter. We will raise this matter in Parliament," BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said.