<p>Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh, former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency, on Monday, was sent to jail by a trial court, which refused to grant him bail in a case of alleged bribe offer to then Army Chief Gen V K Singh, who is now a central minister.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Special CBI Judge Madhu Jain dismissed the bail plea filed by 64-year-old former Army officer.<br /><br /> The court observed that law of the land should be equal for all.<br /><br />“The law of land should be equal for all and if a person who commits a theft of Rs 1,000 is sent to the jail under the provisions of law without any mercy, then a person who was holding the rank of Lt Gen in the Indian Army and who retired from this post and offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to the then Army General should not be shown any mercy by the court merely for the reason that investigation agency did not arrest him during the whole investigation,” PTI quoted the judge as saying in its report.<br /><br />As soon as the order was pronounced in the afternoon, Singh was taken into custody. The court ordered judicial remand for the retired Army officer till October 20, when arguments on the framing of charges would be heard.<br /><br />The former Army chief accused Lt Gen Singh for offering a bribe on behalf of Tatra and Vectra Limited, which supplies military vehicles to Bharat Earth Movers Limited.<br /><br />In an unusual step, Gen V K Singh in March 2012 instructed his information officers to issue a strongly worded press statement accusing the former DIA chief not only of offering bribes but also planting wrong stories in the media maligning the Army. <br /><br />Tejinder approached the court, arguing he was falsely named by the Army. Subsequently, Gen Singh told defence minister A K Antony about the bribe offer and the issue snowballed into a big controversy in UPA II.<br /><br />The Defence Ministry asked the CBI to probe the allegation. After two years of investigations which include recording of statements of Antony, V K Singh and other top officials as well as searches at several premises, the CBI filed the charge sheet in July.<br /><br />The judge, in her two-page order, also referred to the recorded proceedings of Parliament where Antony raised this issue. "Not only is there a statement of then General (retd) V K Singh but also there is recorded proceedings of Parliament of India where this issue was raised. Hence, no ground for bail to applicant Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh. His application is dismissed," the judge said.<br /><br />In the charge sheet, the CBI claimed Tejinder had offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to then Army chief to clear a file pertaining to procurement of 1,676 Tatra vehicles.<br /></p>
<p>Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh, former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency, on Monday, was sent to jail by a trial court, which refused to grant him bail in a case of alleged bribe offer to then Army Chief Gen V K Singh, who is now a central minister.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Special CBI Judge Madhu Jain dismissed the bail plea filed by 64-year-old former Army officer.<br /><br /> The court observed that law of the land should be equal for all.<br /><br />“The law of land should be equal for all and if a person who commits a theft of Rs 1,000 is sent to the jail under the provisions of law without any mercy, then a person who was holding the rank of Lt Gen in the Indian Army and who retired from this post and offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to the then Army General should not be shown any mercy by the court merely for the reason that investigation agency did not arrest him during the whole investigation,” PTI quoted the judge as saying in its report.<br /><br />As soon as the order was pronounced in the afternoon, Singh was taken into custody. The court ordered judicial remand for the retired Army officer till October 20, when arguments on the framing of charges would be heard.<br /><br />The former Army chief accused Lt Gen Singh for offering a bribe on behalf of Tatra and Vectra Limited, which supplies military vehicles to Bharat Earth Movers Limited.<br /><br />In an unusual step, Gen V K Singh in March 2012 instructed his information officers to issue a strongly worded press statement accusing the former DIA chief not only of offering bribes but also planting wrong stories in the media maligning the Army. <br /><br />Tejinder approached the court, arguing he was falsely named by the Army. Subsequently, Gen Singh told defence minister A K Antony about the bribe offer and the issue snowballed into a big controversy in UPA II.<br /><br />The Defence Ministry asked the CBI to probe the allegation. After two years of investigations which include recording of statements of Antony, V K Singh and other top officials as well as searches at several premises, the CBI filed the charge sheet in July.<br /><br />The judge, in her two-page order, also referred to the recorded proceedings of Parliament where Antony raised this issue. "Not only is there a statement of then General (retd) V K Singh but also there is recorded proceedings of Parliament of India where this issue was raised. Hence, no ground for bail to applicant Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh. His application is dismissed," the judge said.<br /><br />In the charge sheet, the CBI claimed Tejinder had offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to then Army chief to clear a file pertaining to procurement of 1,676 Tatra vehicles.<br /></p>
