File photo of General VK Singh
Probing the bribery allegation leveled by former Army Chief V K Singh, CBI has recorded the statements of Defence Minister A K Antony and the Prime Minister's Advisor T K A Nair.
The probe into the case, which was registered by CBI on the instruction of the Defence Ministry on October 12, is heading no where as allegations levelled by Mr Singh, who is now BJP's candidate from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat, were substantiated, official sources said.
The two were questioned to have their perspective about the allegations made by the former army chief when he claimed that lieutenant general (retired) Tajinder Singh had made an offer of Rs 14 crore to clear an order of over 1600 high-mobility Tatra trucks to the Public Sector Undertaking BEML.
CBI decided to record the statements of Mr Antony and Mr Nair so that a final decision on whether to close the case or file a charge sheet can be taken at the earliest.
"Yes, we recorded the statements of the Defence Minister and the former Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office as witnesses in the case," CBI Director Ranjit Sinha today said when asked if they had been questioned.
The retired Lieutenant general General has denied Mr Singh's allegation.
The former Army chief had said in his complaint that he had informed the Defence Minister after the purported bribe offer was made by the retired Lieutenant General on September 22, 2010.
Mr Nair was questioned by CBI as the former Army chief had alleged that he was opposed to scrapping the Tatra deal, CBI said.
The audio tapes, supposed to be having a recording of the purported conversation between the former Army chief and Mr Singh, were of no use as only noise was heard in them, CBI said.
Attempts to retrieve any voice through forensic means did not yield any results, it said. The tapes were submitted to the CBI by Mr Singh.
CBI has looked into possible links between Lieutenant General Singh and the Tatra owner but have not been able to establish any substantial lead, CBI said.