The Central Bureau of Investigation has cited former Defence Minister A.K. Antony as a witness in the case of alleged offer of a bribe of Rs. 14 crore to the then Army Chief and now the Minister of State for External Affairs and Development of North-Eastern Region, V.K. Singh, to clear the file for procurement of 1,676 Tatra trucks for the Army in 2010.
The investigating agency had on Tuesday charge-sheeted Lieutenant-General (Retd.) Tejinder Singh for allegedly offering a bribe to Mr. Singh on behalf of the supplier of the high-mobility trucks.
The charge-sheet says that Mr. Antony has admitted that V.K. Singh had informed him of the offer of bribe by the Lt. Gen. for clearing the file for purchasing the trucks.
“A. K. Antony, Raksha Mantri, in his statement in Parliament on March 27, 2012, and the one recorded under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code during investigation, has confirmed having been informed by General V.K. Singh about such offer of bribe made to him… by Lt. Gen. (retd.) Tejinder Singh,” the charge-sheet says.
The investigating agency had lodged an FIR in the matter under Section 12 (abetting a public servant to indulge in corrupt practices) of the Prevention of Corruption Act in October 2012.
In his complaint, Mr. Singh alleged that on September 22, 2010, the Lieutenant-General (retd.) had offered him a bribe of Rs. 14 crore.
Earlier, the probe agency had registered a preliminary inquiry in April 11, 2012. It had also carried out searches at seven places in Delhi, Noida and Mumbai.
The case is based on circumstantial evidence. Mr. V.K. Singh has also been cited as one of the witnesses in the charge-sheet.
After taking the charge-sheet on record, the Special Judge fixed August 16 as the date for consideration for taking cognisance of the matter.
