NEW DELHI (TIP): Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh on September 19 sought cancellation of bail granted to former Army chief Gen V K Singh, who is facing criminal defamation charges, saying he had levelled false allegations against him. “He (V K Singh) is making false and defamatory allegations against me on TV channels. I can expose him in five minutes on the same TV channel but I will not do that… Whatever steps are to be taken as per the law should be taken by the court to restrain V K Singh from making such statements,” Tejinder Singh told metropolitan magistrate Jay Thareja. During arguments on Tejinder Singh’s plea seeking cancellation of bail, his counsel Anil Aggarwal argued that the former Army chief had given an interview to a news channel where he had levelled defamatory allegations against his client and he had repeated it again in an another interview given recently. “V K Singh had said I (Tejinder) am trying to influence CBI investigation… V K Singh had also said that my client was involved in sinister and anti-national activity to demean the Indian Army,” Aggarwal said. He claimed that V K Singh had also cast aspersions on the court which should be treated as “contempt of court” and these were enough grounds to cancel his bail.

V K Singh’s counsel Vishwajeet Singh opposed Tejinder Singh’s plea saying he had already advised his client not to take any names and give such alleged statements in the media. He also refuted Tejinder Singh’s allegations about influencing the CBI saying, “How can I (V K Singh) pressurize the CBI? I am not the home minister.” During the hearing, the court also concluded the hearing on Tejinder Singh’s plea seeking cancellation of exemption from personal appearance granted to four other accused. The court has reserved for October 3 its order on both the pleas. Tejinder Singh had lodged a criminal defamation case against V K Singh, the then vice-chief of Army S K Singh, retired Lt Gen B S Thakur (then director general of Military Intelligence), Maj Gen S L Narshiman (additional director general of public information) and Col Hitten Sawhney. In his complaint, Tejinder Singh had alleged he was defamed by the Army through its press release issued on March 5 last year which accused him of offering a bribe of Rs 14 crore to the then Army chief to clear a deal of 600 trucks, a charge refuted by him. Advocate Sidharth Agarwal, who appeared for the other four accused, argued that non-appearance of these persons did not have any impact on the case as their lawyers remained present to participate in the proceedings. He also read out the affidavits, filed by the incumbent Army chief and the defence ministry before the Delhi High Court, saying it was mentioned that these four officials had acted in a “bonafide manner”.