Former Defence Minister A.K. Antony was cross-examined on Wednesday before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court in connection with the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) case concerning the Tatra trucks corruption case.
A.K. Antony testified as a witness in the Tatra truck alleged bribery and corruption case, in which General VK Singh accused one Lt Gen Tejinder Singh of offering him a bribe when he was Chief of Army Staff in 2010. During the cross-examination conducted by defence lawyer Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey with Advocate Anurag Andley, Antony stated that neither Gen VK Singh ever gave him a written complaint, showed him any audio recording (which was claimed to be recorded by him), nor took any action directly against Lt Gen Tejinder Singh.
Moreover, he also stated that no complaint was made by Gen. V.K. Singh, and he told him that he did not want to pursue the matter.
During cross-examination, Antony stated that he was surprised that General V K Singh did not complain about the incident of him being offered a bribe, unlike in other cases such as the Adarsh Scam, where he used to write to the Defense Minister about such incidents.
“VK Singh had told me once about this case. It was an unscheduled meeting with VK Singh. He told me that someone had offered him money to assist him in a transaction. I think it was related to Tatra Trucks. He mentioned the name of Tejinder Singh as the person who had offered him the money. When he told me like that I was shocked for a minute or so and kept silent. Then I told him you take action. He did not complain to me or to Ministry before that. In other cases like Adarsh scam or another scam he used to officially write to me or to the Defence Secretary,” Singh said in his statement.
In 2019, the court charged former Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh with offering a bribe to ex-Army Chief General (Retd) VK Singh in the Tatra Truck Deal case.
Special CBI Agent Arvind Kumar then framed charges as the accused pleaded not guilty and claimed a trial. The court further stated that from the facts and circumstances, it is clear that accused Lt. Gel. Tejinder Singh is prima facie guilty of an offence under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Then Army Chief V.K. Singh, who is the complainant in the case, had alleged that on September 22, 2010, during the meeting in the office of COAS, South Block, he was offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crores by Lt. Gen. ( Retired) Tejinder Singh on behalf of one Ravi Rishi to clear the file for the procurement of Tatra vehicles within one month.
There is no dispute on the point that on the relevant date the file relating to the purchase of Tatra trucks was under consideration, and the appointment taken is clear from the register D-10 maintained by the Army. Even otherwise, the meeting has not been denied by the accused, Tejinder Singh. It is also clear from the statement of complainant Gen. V. K. Singh, the then (COAS) Chief of Army Staff, that he had asked his
Military Attache JP Singh not to allow Tejinder Singh inside his office, the court noted.
