I was offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crore, says Army Chief

JAYRAM

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Brief Intro of TATRA


 
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JAYRAM

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'Gen V K Singh did not seriously pursue bribe matter'

Rajat Pandit & Josy Joseph, TNN | Mar 27, 2012, 12.50AM IST

NEW DELHI: Army chief General V K Singh will not fade away as an old soldier. He has fired another damaging salvo at the government by disclosing he was offered Rs 14 crore bribe by a lobbyist barely six months after he took over as the Army chief in 2010.

His disclosure prompted a rattled government to order a "comprehensive" CBI inquiry into the matter. Defence minister A K Antony, on the back-foot after opposition MPs forced adjournment of both houses of Parliament on Monday, said, "The allegations are serious. We have to handle it...I have taken action (by ordering the inquiry)."

Although Gen Singh did not name the lobbyist, an Army HQ press statement on March 5 had directly accused Lt-General Tejinder Singh, who retired as the chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency in July 2010, of spreading "salacious and mala fide stories".

The CBI quickly constituted a team to probe the matter and lodge a case, marking yet another twist in the continuing saga of unseemly controversies dogging the 1.13-million strong Army, from Gen Singh's bitter tussle with the defence ministry over his actual age to the force being accused of clandestinely tapping phones of senior ministry officials, all of which seem to be intertwined.

His most recent allegations are sure to mark Gen Singh's tenure as one of the most controversy ridden in the Army's history. It left the government squirming and saw Opposition stalling Parliament and demanding that explanation about what has been done on the army chief's complaint.

Gen Singh's penchant to repeatedly embarrass the government has further reduced his popularity in the higher echelons of UPA-II, while also sharpening the civil-military divide like never before.

Sources reveal that a powerful group, in the cabinet and top bureaucracy, had pressed the government to sack Gen Singh after he decided to move the Supreme Court in January - an action that was the first of its kind display of dissent by a serving military chief. But Antony protected Gen Singh against such a drastic action.

Antony, however, found himself searching for words on Monday with the Army Chief's fresh claim that seemed to suggest inaction or a weak response from the minister in 2010, when Gen Singh apprised him of the alleged attempt to bribe him.

"Meri baat sunkar Raksha Mantri ne apna matha peet liye tha (Antony held his head in his hands in sheer dismay when I told him). He said such people should be kept out," said Gen Singh.

Top MoD sources, while admitting Gen Singh had indeed verbally reported the bribe attempt to Antony, said the Army chief did not submit a written complaint or "seriously pursue the matter" thereafter.

"As a public servant, Gen Singh could have got the person offering the bribe arrested or lodged an FIR. He has been writing letters to the minister, right, left and center, on his age and other issues. Why did he not do the same for this?" said a source.

Gen Singh says the lobbyist's bribe offer, on behalf of a foreign military vehicle supplier that has a tie-up with a defence PSU, was made in "an indirect way" and left him completely stumped.

The statement on retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh is not the only evidence of divisions in the Army. Indicative of the raging factional feud within the force, the Army has even accused some other "disgruntled" serving and retired military intelligence officers of "fabricating the fiction" that a covert Army unit had spied on MoD officials during the prolonged stand-off over Gen Singh's age. A serving major-general and a colonel are already facing the heat in the case.

Lt-Gen Singh (retired) on being contacted, said, "I have not worked for anybody or on anyone's behalf since the day I retired. The allegations against me are totally false. Based on the Army's earlier press statement, I have issued legal notices to all concerned, including the chief. We will take follow-up legal action, sooner than latter."

With a marked "trust deficit" emerging between Antony and Gen Singh, the government had last month announced that Eastern Army commander Lt-Gen Bikram Singh would take over as the next chief when Gen Singh retires on May 31, three months in advance instead of normal two-month norm as a measure of abundant precaution.

Many within the government, who had been extremely unsympathetic towards Gen Singh's fight over age issue, are now feeling vindicated, as the Army chief continues to embarrass the government in unexpected ways.

After the Supreme Court gave no relief to Gen Singh on his age issue, the government was expecting him to quietly bide time till retirement. Indications are that Gen Singh's fresh claims, when Parliament is in session and embarrassing one of the senior-most Congress leaders known for his personal integrity, hasn't gone down well with the Congress party.

While many had been comparing the relations of Gen Singh and the government to the stand-off between Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and the then NDA government in 1998, the noticeable difference has been Antony's support of his Army chief. However, this previously unconditional support may not last much longer, given the unwanted controversy into which the defence minister has now been dragged in by Gen Singh.

'Gen V K Singh did not seriously pursue bribe matter' - The Times of India
 

JAYRAM

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Questions unanswered are...


  • Army chief said, bribe was offered after 6 months after he took as Army Chief in 2010. What made him to hide this for so long?..
  • Why the army chief immediately ordered the ex-gen to leave rather than handing over to police when he understood what the briber is saying?.
  • Why the army chief didnt file complaint & only said the matter to AK Antony?.
  • Why no complaint is still filed for CBI investigation?. Sources say still CBI is to receive any!..
 
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JAYRAM

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Cong blasts Chief for keeping quiet

Political parties across the spectrum on Monday said army chief General VK Singh should have filed a complaint about his allegation that he was offered a bribe by a lobbyist to purchase substandard vehicles. The Congress party attacked Singh, asking why he kept quiet for so long and didn't lodge a complaint.

"It is really unfortunate. Being a government official and head of the Indian Army, he should have registered an FIR if someone came to him and offered a bribe," said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.

Army chief Gen VK Singh, who has claimed that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore for clearing a 'sub-standard' procurement order, has said he could not understand the import of the statement and that is why he did not act against the person who made it.

"If a person who has just retired a few days ago tells you that you will get this if you do that thing and when you
have never heard something like this, you would be shocked.


Earlier on the day, Union defence minister AK Antony ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into army chief's allegations that he had been offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore.

"It is a serious allegation, I have already taken action," Antony told reporters outside Parliament. But he refused to say what action had been taken and pointed out that Parliament session was on.

Defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in New Delhi that the minister gave the orders after seeing reports of army chief's claim in this regard.

"Allegation of army chief that he was offered bribe is serious, we have to handle it," said defence minister AK Antony.

When asked if the Army chief had informed him about the bribe offer, he said, "Parliament is in session."

Reacting to the allegation leveled by Gen Singh, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said, "Both the defence minister and the army chief should have acted immediately.

"It is a criminal act and nobody should be allowed to go scot free after offering a bribe," he told reporters outside Parliament.

Information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni said, "Whenever such allegation is leveled by any senior official,
the government makes sure that it is clarified."

"He (Gen Singh) has said a very serious thing in his statement and every thing should be made clear in black and white," she said.

On the statement of Gen Singh, former Army chief Deepak Kapoor said, "It is below my dignity to comment on the allegation."

Earlier on Monday, the Parliament adjourned till noon after ruckus by the BJP leaders over army chief general VK Singh's reported statement that he was offered Rs 14 crore bribe.

"The BJP leaders should introspect about their own actions," says Manish Tiwari.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday gave notice for suspension of Question Hour in Parliament, wanted to discuss army chief General VK Singh's claims of being offered Rs 14 crore bribe.

The government is neckdeep in corruption, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Monday, calling "very serious" army chief Gen VK Singh's allegation that he had been offered a bribe to clear a tranche of 600 substandard vehicles.

Party MP Prakash Javadekar said revelations by the army chief were "very serious".

Javadekar, a BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha, said he had given a notice for suspension of question hour to raise the issue.

"The government is neckdeep in corruption. The UPA has lost the right to continue even for a day," Javadekar told television channels.

In an interview to a newspaper, the army chief alleged that an equipment lobbyist offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore, which he had reported to the defence minister.

He said the lobbyist offered him the bribe in order to have a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles of a particular make cleared for purchase.

The army chief also added that the defence minister AK Antony was apprised of the matter.

In the interview Singh said, "One of these men had the gumption to walk up to me and tell me that if I cleared the tranche, he would give me Rs 14 crore. He was offering a bribe to me, to the army chief. He told me that people had taken money before me and they will take money after me."

"Things are fast unravelling and you will soon see the hand behind the drama. You will soon see who the sutradhar of the play is," he also added.



Army chief says he was offered bribe; Cong blasts him for keeping quiet - Hindustan Times
 

Ray

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Does Deepak Kapoor have any dignity?

That is the crux of the issue.
 

parijataka

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The Defence Minister being the Army Chief's boss, wasn't it his responsibility to initiate action against the culprits after being informed by Army Chief ? Antony has taken action only after this information came into public domain and there was furore in Parliament.

UPA-II is taking action in every scam/irregularity only when it comes out into open. Even then they have to be pushed to the wall - for 2G scam first Raja was certified by MMS himself in 2010, then Kapil Sibal propounded his zero loss theory, finally Raja and Kani were sacrificed. From the time Subramanian Swamy filed his case in SC and some action was taken 2-3 years had passed.
 

hit&run

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Corruption, Graft and Bribe in Indian armed force is known entity for long. The difference between them and their Pakistani counterparts is that Pakistanis do it in open, in day light and digest without burp, Indians do under the table, quietly, cover it up and vomit it out occasionally.
 
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Yusuf

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Those who thought there was no corruption in the Army were plain naive.
 

The Messiah

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Those who thought there was no corruption in the Army were plain naive.
There is not one institution in India whether private or public that does not have corrupt individuals.

When majority of Indians are corrupt or will be corrupt if given an opportunity then what else do you expect ?
 

Yusuf

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I mean we have heard about pilferage from army canteens for years. The scale of corruption may be different. But to say there was no corruption is living in denial.

Check this

In certain cases troops consumed dry rations 6-28 months after expiry

Pointing out that the Army marches on its stomach, the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has taken exception to its ration supply chain practices and cited several "glaring deficiencies and inadequacies."

Observing that in certain cases dry rations were consumed by troops even 6-28 months after the expiry of their normal Estimated Storage Life (ESL), the PAC in its report, tabled last week, recommended that the authorities revisit/amend the existing provision of the Army Service Corps technical instructions to ensure that food items were issued in accordance with their ESL.

As for fresh vegetables and fruits, 74 per cent of these items issued to the units by the supply depots were not in accordance with the prescribed norms.

Citing "serious anomalies in receipt and supply of vegetables in one station alone," the PAC said the Northern Command rations worth Rs. 1.92 crore remained untraceable as on March, 31, 2008. A test check reflected "deep-rooted and widespread malpractices in the supply chain management of the Army."

Observing "shortcomings" in the procurement procedures of the Army Service Corps, it noted highly non-competitive procurement of fresh rations and deviation from the laid down guidelines.

Deploring the mismatch between the issue and receipt of rations, the PAC said it was inconceivable that such things could happen "without the complicity of officers" concerned.

In another report on the Canteen Stores Department (CSD), the PAC took a serious view of the Army Headquarters denying auditors access to the accounts of the Unit Run Canteens (URCs), which recorded an annual turnover of Rs.8,500 crore during 2008-09.

Noting that the Comptroller and Auditor-General was unable to audit the 3,600 URCs, the report said this restricted parliamentary oversight to the CSD.

The CAG has been seeking to audit the URCs' accounts on the ground that the CSD transfers money from the Consolidated Fund of India in the form of qualitative discounts. But the armed forces are opposed to the move, claiming that the URCs are run with a non-public fund.

"The Committee is dismayed to note that Audit was denied access to records of the URCs by the Army Headquarters in spite of repeated requests"¦What is more intriguing is the fact that such denial was made despite the directions of the Defence Ministry to make records of the URCs available for audit."

http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/article2766763.ece/?maneref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.in%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dpilferage%2Bfrom%2Barmy%2Bcanteens%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari
 

lemontree

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Yusuf,

The CAG has no business auditing unit run canteens. A board of officers checks is conducted every quarter.
The rot is in the procurement of items at the CSD HQ, not in the unit canteens.

The 5% profit that is earned by the unit goes to the regimental fund, that is used for the welfare of the troops. Like celebrating bada Khannas', festivels, bank FDs for children of soldiers killed in the line of duty, etc.

If the CAG or GOI does not trust its officers and men with the pittance earned from unit CSDs, then why should it trust us to lay down our lives.
Let the CAG rot in the deserts of Rajasthan and the sub zero mountains of the north.
 

Yusuf

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Yusuf,

The CAG has no business auditing unit run canteens. A board of officers checks is conducted every quarter.
The rot is in the procurement of items at the CSD HQ, not in the unit canteens.

The 5% profit that is earned by the unit goes to the regimental fund, that is used for the welfare of the troops. Like celebrating bada Khannas', festivels, bank FDs for children of soldiers killed in the line of duty, etc.

If the CAG or GOI does not trust its officers and men with the pittance earned from unit CSDs, then why should it trust us to lay down our lives.
Let the CAG rot in the deserts of Rajasthan and the sub zero mountains of the north.
No Sir, that is not the point. The point is pilferage in connivance with vested interests. CAG audit or no audit or no jurisdiction notwithstanding.
 

sob

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We have seen the case of an Ex-Naval Chief who became one of the largest middle man in Defence Deals in India. Today he owns a popular 5 Star Hotel in the heart of New Delhi. This was a clear case of conflict of interest and the Govt. never took action against him.
 

Yusuf

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We have seen the case of an Ex-Naval Chief who became one of the largest middle man in Defence Deals in India. Today he owns a popular 5 Star Hotel in the heart of New Delhi. This was a clear case of conflict of interest and the Govt. never took action against him.
The same one whose son or grandson thinks he owns the roads,
 

sob

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The same one.. it was the Grandson.

His Hotel has one of the best selections of Vodka.
 

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