Govt sends to CBI details of 10 Defence deals signed by NDA during Op Vijay

The 10 deals include the controversial deal for bulk purchases of aluminium caskets. The other deals comprise a pick of the Operation Vijay deals, ranging from purchase of grenade launchers to boots.

CBI officials say that following the receipt of the MoD’s communication, they are processing details of the 10 cases and will shortly decide which cases to book first, whether to register Regular Cases (as for the Denel deal) or go for Preliminary Enquiries (PEs) as the agency did initially in the Bofors inquiry.

Sources say that confronted with such a large batch of Defence inquiries—all require probes abroad—the agency will soon be distributing the cases to different units of their anti-corruption wing.

But the flip-flop between the MoD and the CBI is expected to continue. After receiving the list of 37 deals, the CBI sent the MoD a communication asking for ‘‘self-contained’’ allegations for each of the deals.

What the MoD has now sent are snapshots of audit objections on each deal, prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) as well as a brief note on the status of each deal, including details on when the tender for the purchase was signed and the value of the equipment/ammunition received. The MoD’s latest communication makes no reference to the CBI’s request for specific allegations on the deals.

Before taking a final view on which cases to proceed first, the CBI is proposing to remind the MoD about its pending request, possibly to gauge whether more details on the 10 deals are being routed to them.