A K Antony cross-examined on corruption charge related to Tatra truck procurement

New Delhi: In a CBI filed case over a corruption charge pertained to the procurement of Tatra trucks, a team of advocates cross-examined the former Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday.

Antony is said to have insisted that neither he nor the Ministry received any official complaint regarding the incident which was raised by the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General V K Singh, who said Lt Gen Tejinder Singh had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore to clear the file for procurement of 1676 HMVs (High Mobility Vehicles), including Tatra vehicles.

Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey and Advocate Anurag Andley conducted the cross-examination during which Antony said that no official complaint regarding the incident was made either to him or to the ministry.

"Mr V K Singh once told me about the case...He mentioned the name of Tejinder Singh...In another case, like Adarsh scam...he used to officially write to me or the Defence Secretary. This time my understanding was that he did not complain to the ministry. V K Singh told me that he did not want to pursue the matter," Antony said. He further said that Singh did not show him any written note or any audio recording of his conversion with Tejinder Singh.

Based on the complaint by General V K Singh, a preliminary inquiry was registered and later an FIR was lodged by the CBI in October 2012 under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. A court framed charges against former Lt Gen Tejinder Singh in 2019. In June 2022, the Delhi High Court dismissed Tejinder Singh's plea challenging the framing of charges against him.

PTI Input