The Delhi high court on Monday issued a notice to the army on a petition filed by Major General P S K Chowdhary, an accused in the Tehelka arms deal case, challenging a military court sentence.

The General Court Martial order had sentenced him to one-year rigorous imprisonment for accepting bribe.

A division bench, comprising Justice B K Jain and Rekha [Images] Sharma, asked the army to file a reply by April 6, the next date of hearing. It, however, refused to stay the GCM order.

The seven-member GCM, headed by Director General of Defence Artillery Lt Gen C S Chhinna, found Chowdhary guilty based on the videotapes produced by Tehelka.com.

In 2001, the news portal had caught on camera a number of senior officers and politicians demanding and accepting bribes to push arms deals through. 

The tapes showed Chowdhary accepting Rs 1 lakh in cash besides a gold chain. He was then the additional director general, weapons and equipment, at the army headquarters in New Delhi.

Earlier, Major Anil Sharma of the Master General of Ordinance Branch was dismissed from service and sentenced to four years RI by a GCM for similar charges. Three other senior officers are also facing trial in the case.

Earlier report:

Tehelka tapes: Maj Gen dismissed; gets RI

The complete coverage: The Great Defence Scandal