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| FIR against Fernandes, Jaya Jaitley, ex-Navy Chief in Barak Missile case | | |
New Delhi, Oct 10: In a significant development, the CBI has registered an FIR against former Defence Minister George Fernandes, his associate Jaya Jaitley, accused of receiving a bribe of Rs 2 crore, and former Navy Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar for alleged irregularities in purchasing the Barak missile system from Israel in 2000. Earlier, the agency conducted nationwide raids in connection with discrepancies in high profile purchases during the NDA regime.
The FIR filed in a designated court yesterday alleged that a sum of Rs two crore was paid to Jaitley, who acted as an "agent" to clinch the Rs 1,150-crore deal to buy seven Barak anti-missile defence systems from state-run Israel aircraft industries. Jaitley was then president of Samata Party.
R K Jain also named in FIR
R K Jain, who was then treasurer of the Samata Party and was also named in the FIR, received a bribe of several lakhs, the CBI alleged.
The CBI alleged former Naval Chief Kumar "colluded with other accused to put up a note" to Fernandes to import the Barak systems despite objections from the defence research and development organisation.
Fernandes "not only approved the proposal but tried to get it approved by the CCS", the agency alleged.
Barak deal was signed in 2000
The deal for acquiring the Barak systems and 200 missiles for fitting on naval warships was signed on October 23, 2000.
In 2001, a sting operation by the Tehelka website had exposed alleged irregularities in several weapons deals, including the one to purchase the Barak systems.
Fernandes quit as Defence Minister after the scandal broke but returned to the post after the 9/11 terror strikes in the US. Jaitley too resigned her post in the Samata Party.
The CBI disclosed the registration of the FIR at a crowded press conference on a day when its officials conducted searches at premises of several arms dealers in five cities.
CBI conducts nationwide searches
The CBI conducted searches at nearly four dozen places in five states against arms dealers involved in the various purchases made during the tenure of former Defence Minister George Fernandes.
After registering three fresh cases in the designated court last evening, CBI teams swooped down at nearly 50 locations in the national capital, Gurgaon, Sangroor, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Pune, including offices and residences of the arms dealers, official sources said.
The Khannas -- Vipin, Aditya and Arvind (the Congress MLA from Sangrur in Punjab) -- had allegedly acted as middlemen in a defence deal with South Africa`s Denel, the sources said.
Aditya Khanna is already facing the heat from the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in Iraq`s oil-for-food scam.
Sudhir Chowdhury under scanner
Sudhir Chowdhury, a leading arms dealer of the country, came under the scanner along with Suresh Nanda, son of former Naval Chief Admiral S Nanda, as the CBI conducted searches at their premises.
They played an active role in the purchase of the Barak missile system.
CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry against "unknown public servants" of the Defence Ministry and R K Jain (former Samata Party treasurer and an associate of George Fernandes) on October 20 last year.
Arms dealer’s residence searched
The office and residence of another arms dealer, M S Sahani, was also searched by the CBI for his alleged involvement in the deal to purchase the Krasnopol terminally guided munitions after the Tehelka expose.
The agency is also probing allegations of irregularities in the purchase of special ammunition for 155mm howitzers for Rs 166.44 crore, spares for the 155mm guns worth Rs 97.65 crore and special clothing and mountaineering equipment worth Rs 95.15 crore.
Among other deals referred to the CBI were those for acquiring automatic grenade launchers (Rs 52.13 crore), bulletproof jackets (Rs 51.65 crore), multi-purpose boots (Rs 30.37 crore), charging/generating sets (Rs 28.15 crore), sleeping bags (Rs 20.69 crore), surveillance radars (Rs 9.86 crore) and sniper rifles (Rs 9.54 crore).
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