New Delhi:
Army Chief General VK Singh has provided the CBI with written details of a 14-crore kickback that was allegedly offered to him two years ago. The CBI was assigned to the case after General Singh disclosed the offer of the bribe in a newspaper interview last month.
The man who reportedly offered him that bribe, a retired officer named Tejinder Singh, has already filed a defamation suit against the Army Chief. As part of that case, Tejinder Singh testified in a Delhi court today and said that all allegations leveled against him by the Army are false.
So far, the chief has not said in public that it was Tejinder Singh who offered him the bribe to clear what he described as "sub-standard" trucks. But Defence Minister AK Antony has told Parliament that when the chief briefed him about the bribe that was offered, he had named the retired officer.
On March 5, the Army had issued a press release in which it said that Tejinder Singh had been offering bribes on behalf of truck manufacturer Tatra-Vectra. Since 1986, the Army has bought 7000 Tatra trucks - parts are supplied by Vectra, a London-based company that owns Tatra, to BEML - a defence public sector unit that assembles the trucks in Bangalore and then sells them to the Army. A CBI case has been registered against the CEO of Vectra, Ravi Rishi, for cheating.
"The allegation was that I had offered bribe on behalf of Tatra and Vectra Ltd, which supplies vehicles to BEML. This allegation is absolutely false, ill-founded and concocted and I deny the same," Tejinder Singh said in court.
The press release by the Army that made different accusations against Tejinder Singh came amid reports that Defence Minister AK Antony's office was being bugged. The Defence Ministry denied that Mr Antony's office was being bugged, saying an investigation into "inconsistencies" found during a routine sweep turned up no proof of any bugging device.