New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday named former defence minister George Fernandes as an accused in a case related to the purchase of Barak missile system from Israel.
CBI officials alleged kickbacks amounting to Rs 2 crore were paid in the Rs-1,500 crore deal in 2000 to buy seven Barak anti-missile defence systems from state-run Israel Aircraft Industries.
Admiral (Retd.) Sushil Kumar, who was the Navy chief then, and politician Jaya Jaitley have also been made an accused in the case.
The CBI filed a FIR in a court on Monday and alleged that Rs 2 crore was paid to Jaitley, who acted as an "agent" to clinch the deal. Jaitley was then president of Samata Party, which was led by Fernandes.
Kumar is accused of "colluding with other accused to put up a note" to Fernandes to import the systems despite objections from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
R K Jain, who was then treasurer of the Samata Party, received a bribe of several lakhs in the deal, the FIR alleged.
Fernandes "not only approved the proposal but tried to get it approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security," the CBI alleged.
Question Kalam first: Fernandes
Fernandes rejected the allegations and alleged that it was a conspiracy against him. “Sonia Gandhi is behind this. Bring proof against me; the deal was approved before I came to power. After I joined the ministry the Navy insisted that they need the missile . I took the advice of A P J Abdul Kalam, who was the then scientific advisor to the PM. Then I took the decision.”
"If they have to make any charge, then it should start with the President, who first called for it (the missile system), asked for it before I went into the government," he said.
"Kalam said this (missile system) is needed and that is how it came. Otherwise, it wouldn't have come," Fernandes said. He said he had nothing to do with corruption.
Fernandes also attacked Congress President Sonia Gandhi alleging that she was "behind Tehelka sting operation and wanted to implicate me".
The government gave clearance for the purchase of the Barak system for INS Viraat in 2000. The contract had been given to Israel, which had emerged as India’s biggest partner in the area of defence over the past few years.
The Navy approved the Barak system, a ship-borne, anti-missile-missile system, saying it matched its requirements and other Western systems were unavailable because of post-Pokhran sanctions.
The Navy first tested the system in 1995 in the presence of DRDO officials.
(with inputs from PTI)
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