P Dwarakanath given additional charge as CMD of BEML

A day after V R S Natarajan was suspended, BEML on Tuesday said its senior-most director P Dwarakanath has been given the additional charge as its chairman and managing director.

Informing the Bombay Stock Exchange of the decision, it said Dwarakanath, BEML director of Metro and Rail Business, was given additional charge as the Chairman and MD, after the government suspended Natarajan following a CBI recommendation against him in the Tatra truck purchase deal case.

The move to suspend Natarajan came a few days after the defence ministry issued a show-cause notice to him for slapping a defamation notice against former army chief General V K Singh without its permission.

Natarajan headed the DPSU for 12 years and his tenure was supposed to end in September this year. He has been questioned by the CBI in a case regarding alleged irregularities in the procurement and supply of Tatra all-terrain vehicles to the army.

General Singh, who retired on May 31 after holding the post of the army chief for over two years, had alleged in March that he was offered a Rs 14 crore bribe by Lieutenant General (retired) Tejinder Singh to clear the supply of a tranche of 600 "sub-standard" Tatra trucks from BEML. Tejinder Singh has denied the allegation against him.

On June 6, the defence ministry had sought an explanation from Natarajan for serving a legal notice on General V K Singh demanding an apology for his alleged defamatory statements against the defence PSU on the Tatra truck issue.

The CBI has also booked the BEML chairman for alleged cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with tendering process for hiring a private consultancy firm and carried out searches at several locations including his residence in Hyderabad.