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New CAG could have ‘conflict of interest’, says BJP
thehindu.com | May 22nd 2013
The BJP today expressed reservations over the appointment of Shashi Kant Sharma as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, saying there could be a “conflict of interest” as he will be auditing defence deals in which he had a role as Defence Secretary.
“Those who have a conflict of interest should not decide ... The new CAG will look into issues in which he had a role,” Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, said as the party alleged that appointments made to constitutional and statutory offices establishes that the policy of the Government is to subvert these institutions.
Asked about the party’s reaction to the appointment of the new CAG, the BJP leader said: “I won’t comment on the person. But in the government budget, the biggest expenditure is on defence. If the auditing is on this issue, he is himself auditing it ...”
In a joint statement, Mr. Jaitley and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, said “the policy of the UPA has been callous disregard of all democratic institutions. The quality of appointments made to constitutional and statutory offices establishes that the policy of the Government is to subvert these institutions.”
Mr. Sharma has spent over 10 years in the Defence Ministry during which high profile and controversial deals were finalised like the VVIP Chopper agreement that is under the scanner, with the CBI investigating allegations that bribes worth crores of rupees were paid to swing the contract in favour of the Italian company AgustaWestland.
They also said some key appointments made in important institutions by the UPA are questionable and courts had to intervene to protect such institutions.
“Be it the Election Commission, the National Human Rights Commission or the CVC, some of the appointments that the UPA made are highly questionable. At times, the judiciary had to intervene for institutional protection,” the statement said.
Mr. Sharma, a 1976-batch IAS officer who was appointed as CAG after Vinod Rai completed his term, has had a long innings in the Defence Ministry that saw him not only overseeing most major defence acquisitions in the past decade, but also managing a series of crises there.
He is now expected to play a significant role in audit of defence acquisitions, most of which took place during his tenure in the defence ministry.
Keywords: Shashi Kant Sharma, new Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, VVIP Chopper deal scam
Last edited by anmol on 10 Dec 2013 03:05, edited 1 time in total.
In 1983, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) initiated work on development of four missile systems - Agni, Prithvi, Aakash and Trishul. The first two were derivates of rocket technology that already existed, while the other two were to be anti air systems which would be far more complex since they had to cope with fast moving targets. DRDO tried to update technology available in similar weaponry of Soviet origin already in use in the Air Force and the Navy; but, despite all its efforts, the goal could not be achieved.
A FIR was lodged by the investigating agency after a "preliminary enquiry" in which, amazingly, the then Chief of the Naval Staff was, personally, named as possibly complicit in malfeasance. Left unrecognised was a simple fact: chiefs of our armed forces neither personally nominate any hardware for procurement nor evaluate them. Whatever recommendation they make emerges from the work done in their headquarters by dozens of officers of different ranks, all of them with more professional knowledge and experience than most others.
Second, the principal investigating agency, as a consequence, spares little thought in naming service chiefs in the FIRs, subjecting them to a humiliation which no subsequent closure can erase. The civil bureaucracy in the MoD, which contributes to both, becomes a bystander with little accountability.
Service chiefs are not heads of some public-sector units or even secretaries to government; by subjecting them to indignity, the entire institution they command, navy, army or air force, is denigrated. Now, seven years later, the CBI comes up with a closure report and the DRDO, in response to persistent demands made by the slighted navy chief under the Right to Information Act, grudgingly admits that Trishul had never been a product development but only a technology demonstration exercise and had belied even that expectation.
Our ex service men are getting politically savvy, Hopefully in the next Lok Shaba there will be a sizable contigent of these august and respected indivudals. Who can then bring balance to our strategic thinking and desicion making. Anna Hazare being case in point
Love blooms every week behind the metal bars that guard some of India’s most notorious criminals.
In scenes seemingly out of a Bollywood movie, arms dealer Abhishek Verma – prime accused in the Navy war room leak case – and his Romanian wife Anca Maria Neacsu have been making the most of their weekly meetings, highly-placed sources at the Tihar Jail have told HT. The romantic rendezvous have, however, caused much heartburn among Neacsu’s fellow inmates.
Every weekend, Neacsu puts on a ‘special dress’ and ‘scant, though her best, jewellery’ to receive her husband for a meal in a small chamber at the facility’s central jail number six. Sources described the meetings consisted of romantic dinners which ‘not many are fortunate enough to indulge in’ though jail officials described the encounters as a ‘non-special, routine affair’.
Both Verma and Neacsu are behind bars since June 2012 for alleged money laundering after being arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Verma is lodged in jail number four.
“As per the jail manual, every inmate is allowed a visit from a select few once a week,” said a senior Tihar Jail official. “Since Neascu doesn’t have much family in the country, she settles on meeting her husband instead of her lawyer on most days,” the officer added.
The dinners, however, have angered Neacsu’s fellow inmates who allege that jail authorities ‘allow romantic dinners to the Vermas but frown at other inmates for ‘even wearing make-up’
Inmates also said they are ‘disallowed from meeting family members as punishment for the smallest of misdemeanors’. ”What is unfair is unfair,” one inmate, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
“The jail manual stipulates that every inmate is equal; but she (Neacsu) never loses out on a visit, is allowed to wear what she wants, and gets extra time with her husband. We don’t,” the inmate added.
“We aren’t allowed those perks though we have been booked for less serious crimes,” said another inmate.
The jail authorities, however, rubbish these claims. “Not just Abhishek Verma and his wife, every inmate is allowed a visit which lasts half an hour in strict adherence to jail rules and without any special treatment,” said Sunil Gupta, law officer and spokesperson, Tihar Jail.
Just to recap some history about this guy:
Born into an influential family (his father, Shrikant Verma, and mother, Veena Verma, were Congress MPs for a long period), Abhishek Verma started his career in politics with a stint in Chhattisgarh as general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress in 1986.
The Report which says that Britain extended support to India during Operation Bluestar also mentions a deal that took place between the two countries for Westland helis in 1985. This is the same company, now known as Augusta Westland, which is currently being investigated by the CBI in VVIP Helis deal corruption case.
While British Cabinet Sec. Report denies any direct linkage between the previous deal and involvement in Op. Bluestar, particular chapters of history tell us that, between 1984 and 85, the sale of Westland helicopters and was a big issue between both nations which ended in a very costly buy for India under British pressure. The 23 point report submitted to British PM mentions the deal but also specifies that documents pertaining to british involvement in Op Bluestar were destroyed in 2009 and also denies any linkage between the two issues. But documents avvailable to Dainik Jagran show that around the time of operation, Britain was also involved in talks with India over the helicopters and other defence deals.
It is important to know that in the 80's British gov was trying to find customers for loss making Westland's helicopters. It had made a presentation for vvip helicopters during that time too but the selection committee had declared the helicopters too be defective. After PMO interference on westlands behalf, their helicopters were chosen for the deal, but before the deal could be finalized Indira Gandhi was murdered.
Later, while Rajiv's gov at first rejected the helicopters, they took back their decision due to a request made by PM Thatcher and decided to buy 21 helicopters. These were included in the inventory of Pavanhans limited. They were bought for a sum of 6.5 crore pounds in exchange for british financial help.
Pavanhans started operating 2 of the helicopters in 1986 but after accidents on 14th july 1988 near Vaishno Devi and 7th feb 1989 near kohima which resulted in passenger deaths, they were grounded.
Coming back to the present, the corruption case pertaing to the 2010 deal came to light. The fax message of british intermediary C. Michael came to light which mentions trying to take up the case for helicopters with Sonia and other important ministers. Interesting fact is that he is the son of of Wulfgang Max Michael Richard who was the intermediary in the previous deal.
At least 10 top scientists of the country's premier defence research agency, the DRDO, are accused of flouting rules and misusing their positions to recruit family members in the organisation.
Among the accused are M Natrajan, former scientific adviser to defence minister AK Antony and VK Saraswat, India's Missile Man and former DRDO chief.
Antony was apprised of the matter in November last year by Sameer Kumar Khare, joint secretary and chief vigilance officer (CVO) in the defence ministry.
Khare, in his report (dna has a copy), recommended "criminal action against top functionaries of DRDO for committing irregularities in the recruitment of officers/officials, including their kith and kin, in DRDO by misusing their position of power". Based on his report, Antony handed over the investigations to the CBI in November.
Apart from Natrajan and Saraswat, charged with nepotism, the other big names in the CVO's report are W Selvamurthy, former chief Controller, R&D, Arun Kumar, former director, recruitment & assessment centre (RAC), AK Bansal, former director, RAC, and Dr SM Veerabhadrappa, senior scientist (Sci G).
"The brazenness with which systems and procedures have been overridden, it would not be prudent to believe that these are isolated cases," Khare said in his report. "The malice may have spread to wider areas hence causing to raise doubts that the integrity of the whole recruitment systems as such might have been compromised. This situation warrants a comprehensive and thorough investigation of the recruitment system, structure and cases of criminal misconducts of similar nature, including the present cases, by the CBI."
Antony said in November: "Cases to be referred to the CBI for inquiry and further action. DRDO may be directed to put in place an appropriate recruitment system with adequate checks and balances. They may also consider bringing the system under the purview of UPSC."
All recruitments were done through the UPSC till 1982, after which DRDO's recruitment & assessment centre handled it.
The ministry had added that DRDO could also take a professional agency's help to come up with a foolproof recruitment system. "A target of putting in place a new system from the next financial year (2014-2015) may be fixed," Antony said.
Ravi Gupta, DRDO spokesperson, told dna that he could not comment as the CBI is investigating the matter. "But whoever has violated rules, should be brought to justice," he said.
Its common practice in many organizations for seniors to be given wide leeway in headhunting. In fact even financial incentives are given. Candidates of course have to meet criteria but again, there is leeway and Hiring Mgr decides. There is a fine line between nepotism and actually getting people one knows. Latter is prefered many times because they come of known stock and the referrer has his own image to maintain.
Either this is a real issue or its also probable that its bureaucracy gone amuck. VKS for instance, was famous for redtape busting & taking quick decisions. Such folks are invariably targeted if they fall out of political favor & enough stuff can be found to nitpick. This is not the first time VKS & co have been criticised either. Last time around, it was the relatively frivolous charge that he funded a new agency without dotting every i and crossing every t, under the claim that he should not have funded the creation of an academic institute for radar research when LRDE existed, never mind that LRDE itself is trying to increase academic support as do all such agencies.
vic wrote:Note the silence of Dilli Billis of BJP on Agusta Westland scam.
BJP is just another name for congress , The difference is they were far less in power at the center as compared to CONgress so less incentive for scams ....else they are all hand in glove when it comes to taking their share of cut.
If the Congress is allowed to rule for another term,we might very well have to use the indigenous engine,Gandhiji's "chakra" for our defence ware.There was fan cartoon in one of the newspapers,Hindu I think, of Indian defence preparedness,a bullock cart with a rusty old tank turret !
No wonder HAL is desperate for the IAF to buy its paper plane trainer,whiuch has never flown.No juice to be squeezed out of the Pilatus deal,but it can certainly milk the BTT,which will need a foreign engine! The first act of the new Def. Min. should be is to clean out the Augean Stables at the MOD, HAL and other DPSUs.
DQ has a feature where it proves that despite Nero's great talk about his goal of indigenisation,he never walked the talk during his tenure as Deaf Min. and gives the % of foreign/desi components for all orur major projects. It is sad reflection upon his and the UPA/Congress' achievements in defence indigenisation.
Is such an engine not economical in India or is it that India cannot build one at all?
Having talked with a ton of Indian engineers, all agree that a tank engine, unless made in huge quantities, is not economical in India. Not that India cannot make one.
Vikram W wrote:Saw the RollsRoyce AJT scam this morning.
No wonder the IJT was being delayed. The lucre from the foreign deals is killing domestic projects.
If HAL officials were taking money from RR then it is reasonable to believe that they were taking money for Shakti and Al-55 engines also. Both these engines are imported even though they are alleged JVs
India has put on hold all deals with Rolls-Royce until it completes an investigation into bribery allegations against the Britain-based company, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
A federal agency is probing allegations that Rolls-Royce paid bribes for supply of aircraft engines.
Rolls-Royce said it would "cooperate fully" with Indian authorities.
The company is the world's second biggest manufacturer of aircraft engines.
India's defence ministry had put on hold all "existing and future" contracts with Rolls-Royce pending the results of an investigation by the country's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the purchase of jet fighter engines in a deal worth $1.6bn (£960m), the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
'Discrepancies'
The Rolls-Royce engines were supplied to the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) between 2007 and 2011, reports said.
"There was an internal vigilance report [by HAL] that suggested there were discrepancies in the deal. The CBI will look into that," the AFP news agency quoted a defence official as saying.
A Rolls-Royce spokesperson said the company would cooperate with the inquiry.
"We await clarification from the authorities in India. We have made clear that we will cooperate with the regulators and have been explicit that we will not tolerate misconduct of any sort," the spokesperson told the BBC.
Rolls-Royce said last year that the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was investigating allegations of possible bribery in China and Indonesia.
Last month, two people were arrested in London as part of an SFO investigation into the firm's activities in Asia.
The office said at the end of last year it had opened a formal investigation into the engine maker about bribery and corruption in overseas markets.
The Rolls-Royce probe is the latest controversy to hit India's defence purchases.
In January, India cancelled a helicopter deal with Italian defence giant Finmeccanica after allegations of corruption.
India's governing Congress party has been hit by a series of damaging corruption scandals in recent years and the opposition has made regular calls for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign.
Rolls-Royce has been plunged into fresh crisis after India became the latest country to launch a formal investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption at the British defence and engineering firm.
The FTSE 100 company, which is already the subject of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) criminal investigation into claims it paid multimillion-pound bribes in Indonesia and China, was on Monday frantically investigating reports that the Indian government may have blacklisted it from all defence contracts.
Alleged arms dealer Sudhir Choudhrie and his son Bhanu were arrested in the UK on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in a bribery scandal involving Rolls-Royce company.
According to preliminary information, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the UK is investigating allegations that Rolls-Royce, which makes aircraft engines, turbines etc, paid bribes in China and Indonesia to secure contracts, and that Choudhrie was the intermediary for the payments.
Choudhrie has figured in several major defence scandals in India, and was named in at least two FIRs filed by CBI, and also in its list of about two dozen "undesirable contact men", who are suspected of manipulating government contracts. Both the FIRs were closed by CBI saying it had found no concrete evidence to take forward the case.
Choudhrie's name has also figured in documents filed by Italian investigators into the VVIP helicopter scandal, in which former IAF chief S P Tyagi and his cousins are among those accused of taking bribes to clear the 2010 deal. In documents before courts, senior Finmeccanica executives have claimed that Choudhrie was their middleman for past arms deals in India, before they brought in new agents.
Choudhrie is also a major donor to the UK Liberal Democrat party, and was until recently among the probables to become a member of UK's House of Lords.
British media reports said Choudhrie and his son Bhanu were arrested on Wednesday. A spokesman for the Choudhries told local media the duo denied all wrongdoing, and were fully cooperating with the investigation. The father-son duo was granted bail without conditions after being questioned for several hours.
Charges that Rolls-Royce paid bribes first emerged almost a year ago when a former employee of the company raised the allegation.
Choudhrie and his family have been living in Chelsea in London almost permanently since 2006, when he was named in CBI FIRs in India. He has at least one farm house and another independent house in Sunder Nagar in Delhi.
Over the years, the Choudhries have built up a sprawling legitimate business in the UK, India and elsewhere. In India, they are known be involved with construction firm Alpha G Corps, Ananda Spa etc.
How wrong can you get Karan! You are completely mistaken.Here is the true picture.
God bless St.Anthony!
St.Anthony is God's greatest gift to Indian insecurity......sorry security! Have we ever had such a sterling figure in whose hands the security of the nation depends,who has outdone and accomplished so much in a decade at the helm that even legend Krishna Menon couldn't achieve? He has also never unfairly punished MOD babus by sending them to Siachen like that monster, St.George did. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in the MOD's indecision making..sorry again slip of the pen,decision making, a track record that any bureaucracy worldwide will be proud of.
Let's look at his wondrous achievements.He has doubled the scrutiny and tripled the decision making time required for acquisition of major weapon systems desperately required by the services like subs,howitzers and guns,infantry rifles,MMRCAs,basic trainers,etc.,etc.These projects in the pipeline are receiving the careful attention that they rightly deserve .Nothing but the best for our armed forces.No other defence minister has ever studied the fine print in defence contracts so thoroughly as St.Anthony.If he misses something,he starts all over again! If there have been no warrantys for some components in signed deals,there is no problem whatsoever.Fresh agreements will be signed after due diligence and they will be acquired later with the ususal cost escalation clause. As an example, look at the Scorpene deal vetted most meticulously ,leaving no word unread and in full agreement of the escalation cost of Rs.1 crore per day.This is the time-established SOPs.It proves that he respects the finest traditions of the Ministry of Defence!
Now let's look at the performance of the weapon systems being acquired.It is an indisputable fact that never have our weapon systems acquired from abroad been put through such extensive trials,some lasting years.During this time the advances in technology have also been factored in with new trials being conducted immediately after trials Phase-1 are completed. Final decisions will be taken after Phase-2 of Phase-3 as the case may be. In the case of indigenous weapon systems ,even more stringent trials are conducted.Just see how the Arjun tank has been put through its pieces,sorry....paces! That Arjun MK-1 was found superior to the Russian T-90 in joint trials ,it was not enough for our visionary Deaf Minister.He agreed to the army's demand over 80 improvements immediately.The trials are on right now.This will set the minds of our tankers at rest,as with St.Anthony,you get only the very best!
Next take the case of the LCA Tejas.At Aero-India in 2013 did he not kick ass? HAL and the ADA were read out the riot act.The IOC was achieved in Dec. 2013 (after 25+ years),is that not a fact?
The basic trainer.St.Anthony was all for an indigenous trainer,but after a few crashes killing pilots he still generously gave HAL time to perfect their product.He did not rashly scrap the bird.He waited patiently until dozens of crashes conclusively proved that the aircraft was a dud. A swift keen-jerk decision was then taken to buy the world's best trainer the Pilatus PC-7.Only the best from the west! The IAF are overjoyed with it.However,to be fair,to promote indigenisation,we are reliably told that he is giving HAL a second chance to repeat its performance with the HTT-40 whatever,a brand new paper plane that we are told costs much less than the all metal Pillatus.India will thus take a world lead in paper plane technology.
Now for the well-publicised accidents involving the navy,flying (MIG) coffins,etc. It is a fact of physics that what goes up must come down and vice versa.Our IAF's MIGs and IN subs have demonstrated that fact of physics superbly! In addition,the MIG-21s have created a world record, having celebrated their golden jubilee.No other nation squeezes out of its weapon systems the very last drop of blood...sorry! Last drop of juice,second of flying time,spark of power (in sub batteries),than India.In "penny wise pound foolish" financial mismanagement ,sorry again....management, of the weaponry in the armed forces,St.Anthony has no equal.Worldwide where defence budgets are falling,experts marvel at how the Indian armed forces are able to fight to the last bullet ,last MIG,last Kilo sub with so little money spent on maintenance and support. St.Anthony is doing his best to reduce defence spending by asking all submariners and pilots to pray hard for a safe return before embarking upon operations,as faith can achieve miracles!
Tackling corruption.Never in independent India have there been so many defence scams costing the nation billions,which has resulted in St.Anthony creating new records for blacklisting firms and instituting inquiries.Innumerable courts of inquiry have been set up.The CBI and other agencies of the govt. have investigated them as thoroughly as the Bofors and HDW scandals and found NO sign of any malpractice or malfeasance. Take the Tatra scam as another example.He covered his hands when Gen. VK Singh told him about it mano-a-mano,so that he would be fair to Gen. Singh and not look at the face of the guilty,for how did Gen. Singh know about the scam if he was not privy to it? Gen.Singh got his term cut short by a year as a consequence (thank you St.Anthony!), but that is another story.As for the latest developing Rolls Royce engine scam,did he not spring from his chair and start an inquiry immediately after hearing about it from the Arnab Goswami Show?
These same exceptional standards of criminal investigation which would make Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot green with envy,are being used in the Augusta AW-101 VVIP helicopter scam.It also proves the care and consideration with which he treats the requirements of the backsides of our sacred VVIPs and top brass of the armed forces.When Adm.Joshi came to him with his resignation letter,did he not immediately accept it without protest in full agreement with the good admiral? Compare his behaviour to that of evil and mean St.George, who unceremoniously sacked Adm.Bhagwat without even offering him a cup of tea and sympathy. Shameful!
Finally, the entire nation knows that he possesses the whitest dhoti in India! Has any defence minister before him blacklisted so many firms? His reputation is spotless! None can lay the accusation against him that he is corrupt.Legions of arms dealers and manufacturers will happily testify to that effect and will award him with gilt-edged certificates.Do you know that he has also allegedly turned down innumerable lucrative offers for washing powder advertisements?
With such admirable qualities,it is patently obvious how lucky the nation is to have such a saintly custodian of the nation's insecurity,sorry once more...security.Salut St.Anthony!
"Forget about St.Michael,
St.George or St.Gabriel,
If you want nothing but victory,
Then none are better that St.Anthony!"
PS:The MOD is to shortly come out with a paen of praise about St.Anthony's great achievements.BRF thought that it would be the first to congratulate him with our tribute.
However, another known, totally avoidable data point:
"The number of intermediaries used by our businesses has continued to fall dramatically during the year," Rolls said in its annual report, adding that it was working to simplify its anti-bribery policies in line with Gold's recommendations.
Philip, AKA's modus operandi is instead of finding out who took the bribe in India, he suspends the military contract midway after India paid the money and the goods are not yet delivered.
Piase be gaya, maal be nahi ayaa!!!
ramana wrote:So who were the real beneficiaries in this Rolls Royce engine bribery case?
Bet its the first family.
The biggest beneficiaries of this and all other so-called defense "scams" are the pakistanis since we have been rendered weaponless. And all they had to do was send an anonymous allegation.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... laims.html
Rolls-Royce investigated in US over bribery claims
If DoJ judges that Rolls has breached the Act, it will have the power to order a wide-ranging investigation of every one of the company’s business units worldwid
which ‘not many are fortunate enough to indulge in’ though jail officials described the encounters as a ‘non-special, routine affair’.
