Retired Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh filed a defamation suit against Army Chief General VK Singh, after Defence Minister AK Antony named former Lt General in his statement in the Parliament.

Singh’s lawyer Anil Agarwal confirmed the news saying that allegations against his client were ‘outrageous’.

Notably, Antony made a statement in the Parliament revealing that Army Chief informed him that he was offered a bribe by retired Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh.

Earlier speaking to a TV news channel, Lt Gen Singh reiterated that he had no links with any arms manufacturer. “There is no issue of purchase or sale of any equipment,” he said.

Hitting back at Army Chief, he said those who made the allegations need to prove it. He also questioned as to why no action was taken then.

Lt General also said that he had last met the Army Chief in 2010 for his re-employment. He went up to an extent saying that General VK Singh recommended his name for top position in army.

Singh said, “I am not friend with General VK Singh to have made him an offer. There is no question of making me an offer of such a high amount to him.”

On Monday, the Army chief had claimed in a media interview that a lobbyist had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore for clearing a file relating to a purchase of a tranche of 600 “sub-standard” vehicles of a particular make.

After Gen Singh’s claim, Antony on Monday told journalists that Gen Singh had made a “serious allegation.” “I have taken action,” he said. Antony has also ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter.

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 reports also said that Tejinder Singh is contemplating defamation suit against all those who named him in bribery claims.