Tejinder moves apex court for CBI probe on Army chief

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the role of Army chief General V.K. Singh into the alleged incident in which the Army was reported to be spying on Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials.

Lt Gen Tejinder Singh was accused by Gen. V.K. Singh of offering him a bribe to clear a deal for the all-terrain heavy duty Tatra trucks. The retired Lt Gen has also sought direction to the CBI to search Gen. V.K. Singh's residence and seize all the documents which may put his life and liberty under threat. He sought legal action against Gen. V.K. Singh of gross misuse of office, misconduct, offences against the state and against the petitioner.

The retired Lt Gen has alleged that Gen. V.K. Singh had, in violation of service rules, made political statements about the Maoist problem being the creation of the government when it sought to requisition the army for operations in Maoist-infested areas.

The retired Lt Gen also sought guidelines for media on reporting any accusation by a public servant against a private citizen before even a complaint or a legal action has been initiated.

In this case, Gen. V.K. Singh had gone to the media making allegations against Tejinder Singh even before filing a complaint and this, the retired Lt Gen said, violated his fundamental right and, therefore, he asked the court to go into the question of law.