Ex-Army Chief threatens to put documents in public domain

New Delhi: Former Army Chief V K Singh has threatened to put in public domain all documents related to his claim of a Rs 14 crore bribe offer made by a retired officer to clear a tranche of "sub-standard" vehicles, if CBI fails to pursue the case.

"Let CBI say they are not going to pursue the case and I will put it out (in public domain) immediately and I am quite sure," Gen (Retd) Singh told a news channel, when asked if he was willing to put the documents in public domain. The CBI had recently indicated that the complaint by Singh was likely to be closed as he was yet to provide any document to support his claim.

Singh had claimed that he had some documents which would prove the complicity of the retired official and others in the case. The CBI had asked him to submit detailed description of the incident, list of possible witnesses and supporting documents on the issue but these were never received by the probe agency.

But Singh does not feel that "any more evidence is required". He said he was unable to understand what exactly was expected of him.

"Were people expecting me that I should have wired my office, I should have known the mind of the gentleman who walked into my office, I should have videographed him, I should have taped him. I should have had five witnesses to say that I have done this. Is that the evidence that is required? I think there is something wrong in all this," he said.

The agency had in April last year received a complaint from Gen (Retd) Singh about the alleged bribery offer made to him by Retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh in 2010, who had denied the charge, terming it to be false and concocted.

The former Army Chief claimed that Tejinder Singh had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore, a matter he had reported to Defence Minister A K Antony, to clear purchase of nearly 600 all-terrain Tatra BEML trucks.

After recording the statement of Gen Singh last year, CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry against unknown people to probe the matter but nothing had emerged from a year of investigations.