Tatra deal: Tejinder Singh’s bail plea dismissed, arrested
Special CBI judge rejects bail application, sends Singh to judicial custody till 20 October
New Delhi: Lt Gen. (retd.) Tejinder Singh was on Monday arrested on orders by a Delhi court which dismissed his bail plea for allegedly offering a ₹ 14 crore bribe to then Army chief Gen. V.K. Singh for clearing a file pertaining to procurement of 1,676 heavy mobility Tatra vehicles.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Madhu Jain rejected Tejinder Singh’s bail application and sent him to judicial custody till 20 October. “Take him into custody," the judge said. “To come up for scrutiny of documents and arguments on charge on 20 October."
Meanwhile, the CBI also supplied the copy of the charge sheet and other documents to Tejinder Singh, who had appeared in the court following its summons in the case. During the day, he had moved the bail plea which was opposed by the CBI and was later rejected by the court. The court had taken cognizance of the charge sheet on 28 August after relying upon the statements of former defence minister A.K. Antony, V.K. Singh and other witnesses whose testimonies were recorded by the agency during the probe.
The CBI, in its charge sheet, had alleged that in August-September 2010, the file pertaining to procurement of 1,676 Tatra vehicles was pending before V.K. Singh, who is now a minister of state of external affairs and minister of state in-charge of the department of northeast region.
The former Army chief was not convinced with the total projected requirement of the vehicles and it appeared to him that the requirement has been inflated, the CBI had said, adding V.K. Singh had sought fresh opinion on the issue from different quarters.
In its charge sheet, the CBI had alleged that Tejinder Singh met V.K. Singh in his office in South Block on 22 September 2010, and during the meeting, he had offered a bribe of ₹ 14 crore to V.K. Singh for clearing the file of Tatra vehicles by the first week of October. V.K. Singh asked Tejinder Singh to immediately leave his office and intimated Antony about the incident, the CBI had said.
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