Sandeep Phukan.
Defence Minister AK Antony today told Parliament that the Army chief refused to take action after being offered a Rs. 14-crore bribe in 2010. “I was shocked. I told him to take action, but he said ‘I refuse to pursue the matter’,” the minister said.
The minister also said that the Army chief, General VK Singh, had told him that the lobbyist who offered him the kickback was Tejinder Singh, who had retired as Lieutenant-General and was not in service when he allegedly offered the chief the money. In an interview to NDTV yesterday, the retired officer said he has never offered a bribe to the Army chief. Speaking to NDTV, Mr Singh said today that he had no animosity toward the Army chief but his lawyers have filed a defamation suit against General Singh.
A CBI inquiry was ordered yesterday by the Defence Minister after General Singh went public with media interviews about the bribe that was offered to him. The CBI investigation will swing into operation after General Singh provides a written account of what happened. Explaining why he did not commission an inquiry earlier, Mr Antony told Parliament that he had not received a written complaint from the chief.
Mr Antony’s remarks push the ball back into the chief’s court and provide the latest expression to the strained relationship between the Defence Ministry and the Army chief. Yesterday, General Singh said that after he was visited in his office by a retired officer and offered a kickback to clear the purchase of 600 “sub-standard trucks,” he had alerted the minister. Both the Congress and the BJP have said he should have filed a police case against the lobbyist for attempting to bribe a government servant.
“I will go to any extent to investigate the Army chief’s allegations… all my life, I have fought against corruption” said Mr Antony, saying that he follows up even on anonymous letters that allege graft. He said he is ready to cancel any contract tainted by corruption. The BJP’s Arun Jaitley responded in Parliament by saying that his party is willing to work with the government to “cleanse corruption” but he also said that it is the government’s job to distinguish between frivolous and substantive charges. “There is eventually civilian control of armed forces…issues that should be settled in closed doors are becoming a public debate which in case of armed forces should be avoided,” said Mr Jaitley. He added that the government and the Army chief “should not have put blinkers on their eyes. This is learning to live with corruption,” he said.
Mr Antony’s comments today expose the latest installment of the trust deficit between the Army chief and the Defence Ministry. Their relationship was heavily frayed by a year-long battle over General Singh’s age, which culminated with the with the chief taking the government to court in January to accept his claim that he was born in 1951 and not 1950, which is his year of birth according to the government. The issue could have affected when he would have to retire. The General withdrew his petition after Supreme Court judges suggested they would not be able to rule in his favour. General Singh will step down at the end of May.
The Army in a press release earlier this month blamed Lt General (retired) Tejinder Singh for offering bribes on behalf of Tatra and Vectra, which provides trucks to the Army via a government-owned company called Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).
General Singh said in an interview yesterday that Rs. 14 crore was offered to him to clear the purchase of 600 “sub-standard” Tatra trucks. At the time, he said, 7000 trucks were already in use by the Army. But the Defence Ministry says that the Army has never complained about the performance of Tatra’s heavy vehicles.
-via NDTV
What is exactly the motive behind Gen VK’s latest ‘crusade’ against the civilian boss in a Parliamentary democracy?What he is aiming at?Team Anna’s foot soldier-in-chief Arvind Kejriwal has already extended his support to the ‘noble’cause of the holier-than-thou chief of the Army Staff.
Some defence expert in the form of Verma who was hogging the head lines a few months ago on the issue of ‘general’s date of birth’ is again filling the air with more carbon mono-oxide.The media owned and operated by the Desi business houses(unfortunately saffronised for their vested interest to retain the black black money in the temples , the bank’s lockers and in the Ram Dev’s Island in our colonial cousin’s land)is seen pushing the people to commit harakiri.This general has lost his balance ( he may be crook in his own perception) but not as per the general perception.
I think Gen VK should resign on his by tomorrow.
1.A CASE OF BRIBE BROUGHT TO NOTICE OF RM ONE & HALF YEAR BACK.THE RM CORRECTLY & PROMPTLY TOLD HIM TO TAKE ACTION. A ORDER BY GIVEN BY HIS SUPERIOR NOT IMPLEMENTED TILL TO DAY DEMANDS A DISCP CASE TO BE INITIATED AGAINST HIM.HIS INTENTION TO HOLD BACK TELLS A BAD MOTIVE BEHIND IT.
2. AS AN UP RIGHT OFFICER WHICH HE CLAIMS/TRIES TO DEPICT,
HE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN FOLLOWING ACTION.
A] LODGE A FIR
B] GIVE WRITTEN COMPLAINT ALONG WITH OTHER DOCUMENT TO RM,
HIS VERBAL INFORMATION IS REQUIRED TO BE SUPPORTED IN WRITING FOR INVESTIGATION
C]REPORT THE MATTER TO PRIME MINISTER. & PRESIDENT SUPREME COMMANDER
D] APPROACH SUPREME COURT FOR SPEEDY ACTION AS HE HAS GONE FOR HIS AGE CASE
E]GO IN DEPTH OF CASE & PURCHASE FOR SELF ANALYSIS
F] CHECK OTHER DEFENCE DEAL IN PROGRESS & TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION
G]APPOINT SPECIAL BOARD OF OFFICER FOR INVESTIGATION & REMEDIAL ACTION TO PLUG LOOP HOLES FOR FUTURE PURCHASES.
3. HE HAS DONE NOTHING RATHER TRIED NOT TO ACT & HIDE FACTS FOR HIS FUTURE PERSONAL GAIN. AN ACT UN BECOMING OF OFFICER
4. AS NOW CBI HAS COME INTO ACTION & HE IS PRIME WITNESS FOLLOWING SHOULD BE DONE FOR FAIR TRIAL & JUSTICE
A]REMOVE HIM FROM POST OF COAS & PLACE HIM UNDER CHIEF OF JOINT STAFF
B]BRING IN COAS DESIGNATE
C] INITIATE A DISCP CASE AGAINST HIM FOR DEFYING RM ACTION ORDER
D]INITIATE CASE AGAINST HIM GIVING FALSE DATE OF BIRTH AT TIME OF ENROLLMENT ,AS HE STILL MAINTAINING SUPREME COURT HAS NOT GIVEN JUSTICE
E] HE SHOULD BE DEBARRED TO GO TO PREsS/MEDIA SO THAT HE DOES NOT FURTHER SPOIL IMAGE/MOD/GOVERNMENT OF ARMY
F]SPEEDY ACTION AT ALL LEVELS IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST
1.HOW CAN HE DEFY ORDER OF HIS SENIORS. IF HE HAS DONE THAN SACK HIM TO SUBSTANTIVE RANK & TAKE STRICT ACTION
2.HE IS AGAIN SETTING WRONG EXAMPLE & TARNISHING IMAGE OF ARMY
3.THINK IF SOLDIER DEFY THAN HOW CAN YOU FIGHT WAR
4. HE IS LIAR FROM HIS DOB CASE ONWARDS,SELFISH
5. HE IS NEITHER GOOD FOR ARMY NOR NATION
6. TAKE AWAY HIS COMMSSION BASED ON FALSE STATEMENT & DOCUMENTS