Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh was today sent to jail by a Delhi court which denied him bail in a case of alleged bribe offer to then Army Chief Gen V K Singh for clearing Tatra vehicles file, saying no "mercy" should be shown only because he was not arrested during the probe.
Special CBI Judge Madhu Jain dismissed the bail plea filed by 64-year-old Tejinder Singh, who appeared before the court in pursuance to the summons issued to him, observing that law of land should be equal for all.
"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 crores 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," the judge said.
As soon as the order was pronounced at around 2.20 pm, the judge ordered that Tejinder be taken into custody after which the CBI officers present there arrested him and took him to the lock up inside the court premises. He was remanded to judicial custody till October 20.
The judge, in her two-page order, also referred to the recorded proceedings of Parliament where the then Defence Minister A K Antony had raised this issue.
"Not only there is 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 and fixed the matter for arguments on framing of charges on October 20.
CBI had filed a charge sheet against Tejinder alleging that he had offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) V K Singh for clearing file pertaining to procurement of 1,676 heavy mobility Tatra vehicles.
The court had taken cognisance of the CBI's charge sheet on August 28 after relying upon the statements of A K Antony, V K Singh and other witnesses whose testimonies were recorded by the agency during the probe.
