If army chief General VK Singh filed a formal complaint to the CBI, defence minister AK Antony will be the first person to be questioned.
If army chief General VK Singh filed a formal complaint to the CBI, defence minister AK Antony will be the first person to be questioned by the premier investigation agency.
According to a top CBI official, the defence minister’s statement is crucial as a witness because Gen Singh informed only him about the incident immediately after it happened.
“Defence minister AK Antony is the only person to whom Gen Singh had told that Rs 14 crore was offered to him as bribe to clear contract for sub-standard trucks immediately after the incident. For our probe, his (defence minister) statement is crucial,” a top CBI official told DNA.
The defence minister has admitted in Parliament that he knew about the alleged bribe offer to the army chief.
However, the CBI is waiting for a written complaint from Gen Singh to begin formal investigations. A team of CBI officers is expected to meet Gen Singh when he returns from an official tour to Srinagar on Thursday evening.
On Monday evening, when a CBI team went to Gen Singh’s office, he assured the CBI that he would give a formal written complaint by March 30.A named FIR can be registered if Gen Singh names the accused in his complaint.
During his meeting with CBI officials, Gen Singh told them that he has hard evidence to back his bribery allegations related to the Tatra truck deal.
Meanwhile, the federal agency has formed a team headed by a special director rank officer. On Wednesday, the CBI wrote to the ministry of defence and the army seeking all available material and evidence related to the case.
“We have sent a letter to the army chief as well as the defence ministry asking them to provide us all available documents related to the bribery issue. We have also asked the ministry of defence to get us all documents pertaining to the Tatra trucks deal as the ministry has asked for a ‘comprehensive’ probe in the incident,” the CBI official added.
The CBI on Wednesday also issued a statement on defence deals. It said, “Since 2004, the CBI has registered 18 cases related to defence deals, against various public servants including some senior defence personnel.”
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