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Gen Murgai asked to appear before court of inquiry
The Army court of inquiry has summoned retired Major General S P Murgai, a key figure in the expose by tehelka.com on defence deals, to appear before it next week, army sources said.
The Army court of inquiry has summoned retired Major General S P Murgai, a key figure in the exposé by tehelka.com on defence deals, to appear before it next week, army sources said.
Murgai, who retired recently as Additional Director General, Quality Assurance at Army Headquarters, has reportedly been missing since the expose.
Murgai was used by the tehelka sting team to gain access to key officers dealing with armament procurement at army headquarters. He also accompanied the team to a meeting with former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley at former defence minister George Fernandes' house.
The three-man court of inquiry headed by Lt General S K Jain has issued summons to Gen Murgai, which was served to his wife at their Vasant Vihar residence, army sources said. Gen Murgai was reportedly missing since last Friday (March 16) when the tehelka team uncovered its expose on bribe taking in defence deals. Though the court of inquiry has no power to issue summons to civilians, it has, under the Army Act asked even retired army personnel to appear before it to depose under oath, the sources said. The deposition of Gen Murgai would be crucial in the case, army sources said, adding that they were confident that the officer would voluntarily appear before the court. The court, after studying the tehelka tapes and collecting detailed defence statements of the suspended Additional DG (Weapons And Equipment), Maj General P S K Choudhary and four other senior officers, has also completed interrogating the tehelka sting duo of AnirudDh Bahal and Samuel Matthews. It has also allowed five Army officers, besides Choudhary, Maj Gen Ahluwalia, Maj Gen Satnam Singh, Brigadier Iqbal Singh and Col Anil sehgal to cross examine Bahal and Matthews as stipulated under the Army rules. The officers have been attached without work at army headquarters pending the inquiry report. Meanwhile, the parallel one-man defence ministry fact- finding inquiry, after completing its perusal of the tehelka tapes have asked four ministry officials including additional secretary L M Mehta, staff officers to the ordinance factory board H C Pant, assistant financial advisor Narendra Singh and office assistant P Sasi to file details before it. The inquiry held by R P Bagai, Chief Vigilance Officer has been asked to submit its report to Defence Minister Jaswant Singh within a month.
Bureau Report
The three-man court of inquiry headed by Lt General S K Jain has issued summons to Gen Murgai, which was served to his wife at their Vasant Vihar residence, army sources said. Gen Murgai was reportedly missing since last Friday (March 16) when the tehelka team uncovered its expose on bribe taking in defence deals. Though the court of inquiry has no power to issue summons to civilians, it has, under the Army Act asked even retired army personnel to appear before it to depose under oath, the sources said. The deposition of Gen Murgai would be crucial in the case, army sources said, adding that they were confident that the officer would voluntarily appear before the court. The court, after studying the tehelka tapes and collecting detailed defence statements of the suspended Additional DG (Weapons And Equipment), Maj General P S K Choudhary and four other senior officers, has also completed interrogating the tehelka sting duo of AnirudDh Bahal and Samuel Matthews. It has also allowed five Army officers, besides Choudhary, Maj Gen Ahluwalia, Maj Gen Satnam Singh, Brigadier Iqbal Singh and Col Anil sehgal to cross examine Bahal and Matthews as stipulated under the Army rules. The officers have been attached without work at army headquarters pending the inquiry report. Meanwhile, the parallel one-man defence ministry fact- finding inquiry, after completing its perusal of the tehelka tapes have asked four ministry officials including additional secretary L M Mehta, staff officers to the ordinance factory board H C Pant, assistant financial advisor Narendra Singh and office assistant P Sasi to file details before it. The inquiry held by R P Bagai, Chief Vigilance Officer has been asked to submit its report to Defence Minister Jaswant Singh within a month.
Bureau Report