Rajan Mukherjee, the general manager of West Bengal-based Ural India, has
told The Hindu that General Singh — then General Officer-Commanding of the
Eastern Command — had requested the firm to provide trucks for testing in 2008,
after Tatra trucks sold by Mr. Rishi's firm “miserably failed 17 Mountain for
performing Quick Reaction Team and reconnaissance duties in [the] super-high
altitude areas of northern Sikkim.”
“Defects”
“During
the trials,” Mr. Mukherjee said in an e-mail to The Hindu, “the Tatra
vehicle developed defects in engine assembly, whereas Ural's engine performance
was satisfactory even after running about 600 km at high altitude.”
Mr. Rishi
owns Vectra, a conglomerate which has a controlling stake in Czech and
Slovak-based specialist truck firm Tatra, which has supplied the Indian Army
since 1986.
Rashi Verma, a Joint Secretary at the Defence Ministry, had said last week
that the government had “never received any complaint from the armed forces” — a
statement which suggests the Eastern Command either chose not to pass on its problems
with the Tatra to the army headquarters in New Delhi, or that its reports were
suppressed by higher authorities.
In an
exclusive interview to The Hindu published on March 26, General Singh had said
he was offered a Rs. 14-crore bribe, which, it emerged, was linked to an
officer allegedly representing Tatra to clear a consignment of 600 trucks.
There is
no information available so far if Ural India's trucks were the sole platform
tested by the Eastern Command in Northern Sikkim and if so, why. Ural is
co-owned by Kolkata-based magnate J.K. Saraf, who knew Gen. Singh during his
tenure as Eastern Army Commander. There is no allegation, however, of the
relationship having caused improper influence to be exercised.
Mr.
Mukherjee's claims, however, stand in stark contrast to earlier statements by
VRS Natarajan, the head of public-sector giant BEML, which co-manufactures
Tatra trucks in India .
Mr. Natarajan claimed that Ural India's trucks had been knocked out of
competition in the ongoing trials, a claim Mr. Mukherjee has denied in his
e-mail to The Hindu, adding that his firm is considering “appropriate action.”
The BEML
chief, however, has since been backed by Defence Research and Development
Organisation chief V.K. Saraswat, who said Tatra trucks were “outstanding.”
Both BEML and Tatra have said they are considering legal action against General
Singh, but provided no details of their course of action.
Army
sources said the problem encountered in Sikkim could have been related to
the Tatra truck's engine, which is designed for rugged battlefield use,
compromising high-altitude performance in return for lower risks of breakdown.
CBI
officials refused comment on the issues they had discussed with Mr. Rishi, but
the businessman has been barred from leaving India until further notice.
He was
earlier questioned by the agency officials last week, soon after the CBI
registered an FIR in the case. CBI officials were also poring over and
analysing a number of documents seized during raids in Delhi ,
Noida and Bangalore .
Apart
from Mr. Rishi, the FIR refers to unknown officials of BEML, Vectra and the
Army. The case was registered under provisions of the Indian Penal Code
relating to criminal conspiracy to cheat and under the Prevention of Corruption
Act.
The investigators are tasked with looking into all
purchases of Tatra trucks made from 1997, when Vectra took control of Tatra. Since
1986, the Army has purchased some 7,000 Tatra trucks to transport troops and
artillery.
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