A Delhi court today held that an Army press release issued this March accusing Lt Gen. (retd) Tejinder Singh of bribery and spreading misinformation was prima facie defamatory in nature since it was false and injurious qua the character and his reputation. Adjudicating a criminal defamation complaint by Tejinder Singh,accusing Army Chief General V K Singh and four other top officers of acting in cahoots,the magisterial court said that the allegation of bribery contained in the March 5-6 press release appears to be a ex-facie serious allegation when seen in light of the fact that the complainant has claimed to have rendered thirty nine and a half years of distinguished service in the Indian Army and has obtained two medals from the Government of India for his distinguished service. The release had alleged that reports about the unauthorised surveillance of phones of defence ministry officials were put out in the media by Tejinder Singh,besides accusing him of offering bribes on behalf of Tatra and Vectra Ltd,which supply trucks to BEML. Summoning by June 6 the records from the Secretary,Ministry of Defence,to examine if all five could be prima facie said to be in a conspiracy over the publication of this release,Metropolitan Magistrate Jay Thareja further noted that the records disclosed that the respondents (Army Chief and others) have issued the press release in violation of Section 21 of the Army Act,Rule 21 of Army Rules and the Defence Technical Publicity Rules. Therefore,the magistrate added,the Army Chief and other officers made respondents in the case,cannot seek the benefit of Section 197 (2) of CrPC at this stage. This legal provision prohibits a court from taking cognizance of any offence alleged to have been committed by any member of the Armed Forces while in the discharge of his official duty. The court said that a final decision regarding their entitlement to immunity under this provision could,however,be decided only once the respondents enter appearance and lead evidence in their defence. The court which expressed satisfaction with the arguments by Tejinder Singhs counsel Anil K Aggarwal over prima facie establishing criminal defamation and the nature of communication being an unprivileged one,however,noted that the third aspect of proving involvement of all five respondents in issuing the impugned release was still to be established. The magistrate said that while the replies to Tejinder Singhs legal notice by Lt Col Hitten Sawhney and Major General S L Narsimhan wherein they admitted having forwarded the release were sufficient to draw a prima facie inference that they were involved in the publication of the press release, the role of the other three,including the Army Chief,Vice-Chief of the Army Staff S K Singh and Lt Gen B S Thakur (director general,Military Intelligence),was not clear. At this stage,on the basis of the evidence available,this court cannot draw any positive or negative inference, said the court. The magistrate observed that the court would not want to issue summons in haste and hence held it was appropriate to postpone the issuance of process and hold an additional inquiry under Section 202 of the CrPC,in order to decide whether or not there is sufficient ground for proceeding. It is directed that file regarding publication of the press release be summoned through the office of Secretary,Ministry of Defence. In case the file is not available in the office of the Secretary,it is expected that the Secretary would summon the file from the Army Headquarters and ensure it is sent in a sealed cover for perusal of this court, read the court order,while adjourning the matter till June 6.. The Indian Express had on May 8 reported on a letter sent to the defence ministry by the Armys Additional Director General (Public Information) Major General S L Narasimhan in connection with the hearing of the criminal writ petition filed by Tejinder Singh in the Delhi High Court. Letter,No. A/810028/GEN/M/PI had read: The clarification by integrated Headquarter of the Ministry of Defence (Army) dated March 5,2012 was approved verbally along the chain of command through the Director General of Military Intelligence and Chief of Army Staff.
