The CBI on Tuesday filed its charge sheet against Lt. Gen. (retd.) Tejinder Singh for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs. 14 crore to the then Army Chief V.K. Singh, who is now a Union Minister, in connection with the Tatra truck deal.
The charge sheet filed under section 12 of Prevention of Corruption Act named the retired Lieutenant General for having allegedly offered the bribe on behalf of Tatra trucks suppliers who provided the all terrain vehicles to the Indian Army.
The section 12 of the Act deals with the offence of offering bribe to a public servant.
CBI sources said the charge sheet was based purely on circumstantial evidence which includes Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh’s meeting with the then Army Chief and putting on hold the order for supply of trucks from Tatra.
Expressing surprise over the move, Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh said in 2013 there were dozens of media reports which stated that no evidence was found in the case and that it was heading for a closure. These media reports were obviously based from information from the CBI, he claimed.
“My interaction with the agency clearly indicated that there was no credible evidence found.
“Now with the change of government, there seems to be a change of heart in the probe agency and therefore the filing of charge sheet is abuse of power by the people concerned and politically motivated,” Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh told PTI in his reaction to the CBI charge sheet.
A case was registered against Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh on October 19, 2012 following a complaint by Gen. V.K. Singh, who is at present Minister of State of External Affairs and Minister of State in charge of the Department of Northeast Region.
The then Army Chief had alleged that Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh had offered him a bribe of Rs. 14 crore on September 22, 2010 on behalf of Tatra truck supplier for clearing file for procurement of 1,676 Tatra HMVs (High Mobility Vehicles) for the Indian Army.
The CBI during its probe also recorded the statement of the then Defence Minister A.K. Antony who corroborated that the Army Chief had come to his office and informed him that Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh had made a bribe offer.
As a corroborative evidence in its charge sheet, the CBI has mentioned the orders of the then Army Chief to his staff that Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh should not be given any appointment in future, the sources said.
