Former Army chief Gen (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury on Monday termed Army Chief Gen VK Singh's claim that he was offered bribe as "a serious matter" and wondered what action the government had taken so far.
"The Army Chief has claimed he had informed the Defence Minister (of the bribery offer amounting to Rs14 crore) which is absolutely a correct step. But what has the Defence Ministry done so far on this?" Roychowdhury sought to know.
The former chief of the Army staff said that something should have been done on Gen Singh's allegation as "it is a serious matter".
"As a matter of security for defence forces, you are trying to compromise with the system (by offering bribes)," he said, adding the Chief of the Army Staff is a very prominent person "but at the same time a very vulnerable person too".
On Defence Minister AK Anthony ordering a CBI probe into the matter, Roychowdhury asked, "What action did the Defence Ministry take so far? To whom they talked in the course of investigations, that is not known. No idea if the government had done anything on the Army Chief's allegations even primarily".
The government on Monday ordered a CBI inquiry into the allegation made by Gen Singh claiming he was offered a Rs14-crore bribe by a lobbyist.
In an interview to a newspaper, Gen Singh claimed he was offered a bribe of Rs14 crore by an equipment lobbyist for clearing purchase of 600 substandard vehicles.
The Army chief said in the interview that the Defence Minister was apprised of the matter.
