Apologise or we will sue: BEML to Gen VK Singh

General VK Singh’s first day as an ordinary civilian got off to a rocky start, with BEML Chief VRS Natarajan announcing at a press conference that the allegations made against the company by the former Army chief were false, damaging and defamatory, and threatened to sue unless he apologised immediately.

“We are astonished that the a man of General VK Singh’s stature would make such damaging statements against the company”, said Natarajan, the head of BEML.

He refuted allegations of irregularities in the purchase and quality of armoured vehicles, saying that all such vehicles had been imported only after a complete and due process by the Ministry of Defence. He said he had conclusive proof to refute all of the General’s claims.

“We have nothing to hide, and we are more than willing to fully cooperate with investigations into the matter”, he said.

Responding to questions on as to why the statement had been made now, Natarajan said that the legal process was long winded and they were only ready to make a statement now.

He did not comment on the coincidence of the announcement being made on the same day that General Bikram Singh took over the reins of the Indian army.

According to existing laws, BEML would have had to take permission from the Ministry of Defence to take action against General Singh if he was still head of the army.

Vectra group, which owns Tatra, in fact sought MoD permission to initiate legal action against General VK Singh on 30 March. The manufacturers of the truck said they had to take the defence ministry’s permission since General Singh is still a serving army official.

“We are not attacking the institution but the person for making unfounded and defamatory statements against us which has harmed our reputation,” Rishi said at the time.