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Corruption in defence deals rocks Parliament

	April 25, 2005

UPA-NDA indulge in blame game



The budget session of Parliament resumed on a tempestuous note on April 19 with the Opposition stalling proceedings in both Houses over the issue of defence purchases during the previous NDA Government led by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Opposition was furious with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government for its fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court saying the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been asked to probe 23 cases related to alleged malpractices in military purchases during the NDA regime.

In the Lok Sabha, the BJP-led opposition also demanded the resignation of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee for losing credibility after he acted with “political vendetta” against his predecessor George Fernandes.

Anguished over the opposition’s uproar in the house despite the government’s open invitation for a “full-fledged discussion” on the issue, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee warned the members that he would not adjourn the proceedings from Wednesday (April 20) onwards, “come what may”.

The Opposition accused the government of acting “under political pressure” for filing a fresh affidavit against Fernandes after giving him a “clean chit” in the first one.

The UPA Government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier this month filed a fresh affidavit in the apex court saying it was referring 23 more arms deals during the 1999 Kargil conflict for a fresh probe by CBI. The affidavit also said it was committed to taking strict action against Fernandes if he was found guilty.

“It was illegal, immoral and unconstitutional and it was just for political vendetta,” said Vijay Kumar Malhotra, deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha.

However, Mukherjee denied the charges. “The insinuation raised by the members about the affidavit that one was contradictory to each other is not true. Nothing like that had happened. Normal course of action as per law and practice has been taken in this matter.”

Neither Mukherjee’s explanation nor Chatterjee’s repeated requests could satisfy the agitated opposition members, who stormed out of their chairs and raised anti-government slogans and objectionable remarks against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Interestingly, the Samajwadi Party, which supports the government from outside, also joined the opposition to accuse the government of taking “political revenge” against Fernandes.

“This is just revenge taking,” Mohan Singh of the Samajwadi Party said, amid the din of protests. Mohan Singh is an old friend of Fernandes.

Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Prabhunath Singh asked Mukherjee to resign, saying he was acting “under pressure” to “assassinate the character of Fernandes”.

P.K. Bansal, the chief whip of the Congress, retorted that opposition members did not want discussion fearing their leaders would be exposed.

There were similar scenes in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) as well, with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) raising the issue. It led to acrimony and the House was adjourned.

Though Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Pachouri had said there could be a discussion, the Opposition was not placated.

The onslaught had begun even before Question Hour. Both Houses met after a 25-days-long recess in the budget session.



PM’s concern

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed his anguish and deep concern about the impact of defence scams on procurement of essential armaments for the armed forces.

“I worry about that. It is a very unfortunate part we are in these controversies,” the Prime Minister said.

He was answering a question during a press conference on board the Air India plane while flying to Jakarta for the Asian-African summit - on allegations of kickbacks in defence deals signed during former Defence Minister George Fernandes’ tenure.

“But democratic politics and political compulsions probably have a logic of their own,” he said in a reference to the uproar over the issue in parliament and outside and demands for enquiries.

Defence experts say that such allegations, like the one over the Bofors gun, had resulted in inordinate delays in the past in placing orders for urgently needed weapon systems as officials exercised restraint for fear of controversies.

“We have to make every effort to ensure that these recent events do not create a disincentive for taking timely decision regarding armaments (procurement),” the Prime Minister added.



Probe ordered against South African defence firm

The government on April 21 ordered a CBI probe against a South African arms company that allegedly paid kickbacks to obtain confidential documents from the Defence Ministry to influence a deal.

CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) is India’s premier investigating agency under the Union Government. Its primary task is to investigate corruption cases.

Ordering the probe, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said all ongoing deals with Denel, which is partly owned by the South African government, would be put “on hold”.

Reports in South African newspapers Star and Cape Argus on April 16 said Denel had illegally obtained documents regarding price negotiations by the Indian Defence Ministry that helped it clinch a deal to sell “bunker buster” or anti-material rifles.

Under Indian laws, the use of middlemen or agents is strictly prohibited in all defence deals.

Though the spokesman did not give details, officials said the order would affect work on constructing an ordnance factory with Denel’s involvement at Nalanda in Bihar, the constituency of former Defence Minister George Fernandes.

The deal mentioned in the South African media reports too had been concluded during the tenure of Fernandes, currently at the centre of a controversy regarding alleged irregularities in arms deals uncovered by the now defunct Tehelka website.

Defence ministry officials said work had also been “frozen” on a project to build self-propelled artillery guns by marrying India’s Arjun tank chassis with 155mm gun turrets supplied by Denel.

The allegations in the South African newspapers came at a time when the Indian government has told the Supreme Court it is probing several emergency purchases made by the Defence Ministry during and after the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan. Fernandes was Defence Minister at that time.

Denel has emerged as a major supplier of defence hardware to India in recent years. During the Kargil conflict, it had rushed emergency supplies of 155mm howitzer ammunition for the Indian Army’s Bofors guns.

The Star newspaper said it had access to a secret Indian Defence Ministry document regarding negotiations “to procure 200 anti-material rifles and 100,000 rounds of ammunition with ToT (transfer of technology)”.

Sources told the paper that acquiring the document for payment by Denel amounted to corruption because it enabled the firm to get inside information and have an unfair advantage.

John Peltz, Denel’s representative in India, has denied the allegations.



Specific complaints to ease defence deal probe : CBI

Meanwhile, the investigating agency has urged the Government to refer to it only specific allegations for probe. CBI Director U.S. Mishra said, “We have asked the Department of Personnel and Training (the nodal ministry) what the specific complaints were in each deal and how many of the deals make up criminal cases for the CBI to register.”

So far, 37 deals finalised by the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government have come under the scanner. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has adversely commented upon the deals - mainly emergency purchases during the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan.

Some of the noteworthy deals are the purchase of armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs), hand-held thermal imagers (HHTI), thermally guided Krasnapol ammunition, T-90 tanks and M-46 field guns.

The CBI was initially given seven cases in October last year after the government decided to wind up the one-man Phukan Commission that probed a gamut of defence deals.

Subsequently, more deals were added and a fresh list of 23 deals was handed to the CBI April 13.