Tatra trucks scam: Antony admitted VK Singh told him about bribe

New Delhi: The CBI has said former defence minister AK Antony, a witness in the Tatra truck case, admitted that former army chief General VK Singh informed him of the bribe offer by Lt Gen Tejinder Singh for clearing the trucks’ purchase file. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday filed a charge sheet against retired army officer Tejinder Singh following VK Singh’s allegation of bribery offer over irregularities in the import of heavy-duty Tatra trucks for the Indian Army. “AK Antony, raksha mantri (defence minister), in his statement in parliament March 27, 2012, and the one recorded under Section 161 CrPC during investigation, has confirmed having been informed by General VK Singh about such offer of bribe made to him about 1-1.5 years ago by Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh,” the CBI said in its charge sheet which was made available to the media Wednesday. “During investigation, Antony admitted having been informed by General VK Singh Singh with respect to offer of bribe by Lt Gen (retd ) Tejinder Singh for clearing the Tatra trucks purchase file,” it said. The CBI has submitted a list of 20 witnesses in the case - including Antony, General VK Singh, then joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Dheeraj Gupta, and then adviser to the prime minister, TKA Nair. The investigating agency in its nine-page charge sheet claimed that facts proved General VK Singh’s allegation that Lt  Gen Tejinder Singh had offered him Rs.14 crore for clearing a tranche of “sub-standard” Tatra trucks for the army. [caption id=“attachment_1045057” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AK Antony in the Rajya Sabha in this file photo. PTI[/caption] “General VK  Singh on July 27, 2010, had issued a letter to the then national security advisor recommending Lt Gen Tejinder Singh for the post of chief of national technical research.” “This was period that the chief of army staff (COAS) and Lt Gen Tejinder Singh had excellent working relations till the alleged offer to bribe was made by him to the COAS,” the CBI said. It said that, however, after the date on which the bribe was allegedly offered, these two officers have not been in touch. The CBI said that “during investigation, General VK Singh claimed to have recorded the alleged conversation between him and Lt Gen Tejinder Singh 9, September, 2010. However, the same was not provided by him to the investigating agency despite efforts”. In March 2012, General VK Singh alleged that Lt Gen Tejinder Singh met him 22 September, 2010, and offered him the money on behalf of Vectra group owner Ravi Rishi to clear the file for procurement of 1,676 Tatra HMVs (High Mobility Vehicles) for the army. The CBI filed a case against Lt.Gen. Tejinder Singh in October 2012 under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. On the basis of General VK Singh’s complaint, a preliminary inquiry was registered April 11, 2012. The agency had also carried out raids at seven locations in Delhi, Noida and Mumbai Oct 20, 2012. IANS