Tejinder Singh withdraws bugging case against Army chief

In a surprise move, retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh on Thursday withdrew his petition from the Supreme Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the alleged misconduct of Army Chief Gen V K Singh.

Appearing before a bench of justices P Sathasivam and J Chelameswar, senior counsel Rajiv Dhawan urged the court to grant permission for withdrawing the petition.

"Your lordships please don't open the file at all. Kindly grant me permission to withdraw the petition and move the appropriate forum," Dhawan urged the court.

Accordingly, the bench granted permission for withdrawal of the petition.

Tejinder Singh had approached the Supreme Court on April 25 seeking a CBI inquiry on the alleged role of the Army chief in the purported bugging of the defence minister's office and action against him for "misconduct".

The government has already denied reports of bugging.

The petition was filed days after the army chief accused Tejinder Singh of offering him bribe of Rs 14 crore for purchase of Tatra trucks. Following the complaint by the army chief, the CBI initiated a probe into the matter.

He had also accused the army chief of professional misconduct by making "political statements" while holding the key post. He had alleged the army chief had stated that the Maoist problem in the country is the creation of the government when the Centre had sought help of the army in Naxal-affected areas.

Tejinder Singh had made the army chief a party in his petition.

He has also filed a criminal defamation case against Gen V K Singh and four other senior army officers in a trial court.

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