Supreme Court reserves order on defamation case against army chief till May 5

New Delhi, April 26 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a defamation case filed against Army Chief General V.K.Singh by Lt. General (retired) Tejinder Singh till May 5.

Lt.Gen. Tejinder Singh had recorded his statement before a Delhi court in connection with a criminal defamation case filed against Army chief VK Singh and four others. Lt.Gen.(retired) Singh had also sought an independent inquiry into the illegal monitoring of mobile phone conversation of ministry officials by the army under the present chief General VK Singh.

Lt.Gen.Tejinder Singh had retired as Director General of Defence Intelligence Agencies in 2010.

Lt.Gen.Tejinder Singh has placed a sealed, written statement and a CD in support of his petition demanding a CBI probe into alleged bugging of ministry offices.

Lashing out at the chief for "concocting" bribery allegations against him, the petitioner also wants a court direction to CBI to carry out searches at offices and residences of General Singh, his subordinate officers and their family members. He wants the agency to seize documents related to his private life and not release it to the public.

In a disclosure made during an interview to a newspaper, the army chief had accused Tejinder Singh of offering him a bribe of Rs.14 crore for purchase of Tatra trucks. Pursuant to a written complaint, CBI has already initiated a preliminary inquiry into the allegations.

Singh alleged the "false" bribery allegations were levelled as he was privy to army chief's "illegal designs and intention to carryout monitoring of mobile phone conversations of the defence ministry of officials".

The petition claimed the General complained to the defence minister to pre-empt Tejinder Singh from spilling the beans about the chief's "illegal scheme."

Tejinder Singh also accused the chief of violating the "rule of law". He said the General intruded into his private life and resorted to unauthorised tapping of his phone.

The petitioner also wants a direction to the government to initiate disciplinary inquiry against the chief for issuing public statements. He cited instances where several press notes were released at the chief's behest and said this amounted to misuse of his position. (ANI)