Defence Ministry suspends business dealings with Vectra company over Tatra case

Army chief General V K Singh had claimed that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to approve sub-standard trucks in 2012

The defence ministry has suspended all business dealings with Vectra Advanced Engineering Private Ltd for one year in view of a probe by the CBI into the allegations of wrongdoings against it in the Tatra Truck deal, officials said on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the suspension of business dealings with M/s VAEPL for one year from August 14, they said.

In 2012, the then Army chief General V K Singh had claimed that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to approve the procurement of a batch of 600 "sub-standard" Tatra trucks for the Indian Army.

Vectra was the supplier of the Czech-origin all-terrain Tatra trucks to the armed forces through state-run Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).

In an official note, the defence ministry linked the suspension of the business dealings with M/s VAEPL to the CBI probe into the case as well as bribery allegations made by Singh, who is currently part of the union council of ministers.

"It is requested that strict compliance of the above decision may be ensured by all wings in this ministry and services," the note issued by the vigilance department of the ministry said.