New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday said that it would hold an inquiry into the allegations levelled by Lt General (retd) Tejinder Singh in a criminal defamation case filed by him against General V K Singh before passing any order on summoning the Army Chief.
The court also directed the Defence Ministry to place before it the file relating to the publication of the Army's March 5 press release in which Tejinder Singh was accused of offering a bribe of Rs 14 crore to the Army Chief.
The court, in its order, said it was "prima facie satisfied that the March 5 press release was defamatory" as "ex-facie" serious allegation of "bribery" has been made against Tejinder Singh, who had a long and distinguished career in the Army.
However, the court said before passing any order, it had to be inquired whether the Army Chief and four others named in the complaint had any role in the publication of the press release.
The court said that the "only important question that now survives" before it is that whether among the five persons, mentioned in the complaint, the Army Chief and two others – Lt Gen S K Singh and Lt Gen B S Thakur – had any complicity in the publication of the press release.
"I find that at this stage i.e. on the basis of evidence available, this court cannot draw any positive or negative inference and it would be appropriate for this court to postpone the issuance of process and hold an inquiry as per section 202 of the CrPC," Metropolitan Magistrate Jay Thareja, in his 17-page order, said.
Section 202 of the CrPC empowers the court to hold inquiry for the purpose of deciding whether or not there is sufficient ground for proceeding in a complaint.
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