New Delhi: Lt-General (retd) Tejinder Singh was taken into custody yesterday after a court rejected his bail plea over allegations that he offered a bribe to then army chief General V K Singh for clearing “substandard” Tatra trucks for the army.
Tejinder Singh later moved the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court’s order.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special judge Madhu Jain dismissed Tejinder Singh’s bail plea and ordered that he be taken into custody.
Delhi High Court judge Justice Pratibha Rani will today hear his plea challenging the trial court’s order sending him to judicial custody until October 20.
The CBI judge yesterday noted that Tejinder Singh was holding the rank of Lt-General in the Indian Army, retired from the post and offered a bribe of Rs140m to then army chief.
The court said he should not be shown any mercy merely for the reason that the investigation agency had not arrested him during the probe.
Tejinder Singh appeared in the CBI court following summons issued on August 28.
Senior Public Prosecutor V K Sharma, countering his bail plea, argued that the law of the land was equal for all and if a small thief was sent to jail under the provisions of law, then no leniency should be shown to a person who retired from the rank of Lt- General in the Indian Army.
Tejinder Singh offering a bribe of Rs140m was not a small offence, the judge said.
“In my view, the submission of the senior public prosecutor for CBI bears force,” the court said.
The court observed that there was a statement by V K Singh and the recorded proceedings of parliament where this issue was raised.
“Hence no ground for bail to applicant Lt-General (retd) Tejinder Singh. His application is dismissed,” the court said in its order.
However, Tejinder Singh’s counsel requested the court to release his client on bail and said that during the entire investigation, he was never arrested by the CBI and fully cooperated with the probe.
The court, while taking cognizance of the charge sheet, relied upon the statements of prosecution witnesses, including former defence minister A K Antony and V K Singh. It said there was sufficient evidence to take cognizance of the offence.
IANS
