Granting bail, Metropolitan Magistrate Jay Thareja also asked them to furnish personal bonds of Rs.20,000 each.

"All the accused have entered appearance. Since they are retired and serving army officers, they are admitted to bail on furnishing of personal bond of Rs.20,000 each," the magistrate said.

Besides the former army chief, Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen S.K. Singh and two other top serving officers also appeared in court.

All the five officers had moved the bail application Friday.

Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh had filed a case against the former army chief and others for allegedly making libellous statements against him in the media and accusing him of bribery.

Alleging that the officers misused their official position, power and authority to level false charges against him, Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh had also named Army Vice Chief Lt Gen S.K. Singh, Director General Military Intelligence Lt Gen B.S. Thakur, Additional Director General Public Information Major Gen S.L. Narsimhan and Directorate General of Public Information Staff Officer Lt. Col. Hitten Sawhney.

The former army chief had disclosed in the press release that he was offered a kickback of Rs.14 crore by a retired defence officer in exchange for clearing a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles.

Denying all the allegations, Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh had said that in the press release of March 5 army headquarters publicly accused him and a group of serving officers of the Military Intelligence (MI) of conspiring to create a rift between the army chief and the government.

The army said the "fabricated fiction" was put out by a group of disgruntled serving officers of MI working in connivance with a retired lieutenant general who had headed the Defence Intelligence Agency.

The retired officer denied the allegation against him in the plea and filed a defamation case against the five March 27.