Govt tables Phukan report, only to trash it in the House

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherji tabled the report in Parliament today and the government, in an accompanying note, said that the report was incomplete since it had not addressed all the terms of reference it was supposed to.

Reacting to the tabling of the report, Fernandes described it as ‘‘one in the series of continuous attempts’’ by Congress and its allies to ‘‘subvert’’ the commission of inquiry.

He said the ‘‘continuous attempts’’ of Congress and its allies to ‘‘sabotage’’ the functioning of the commission was evident from the fact that allegations were made in Parliament against Justice K Venkataswamy who quit as the commission’s chairman after some MPs made allegations against him. These MPs, he said, were now ministers.

Though the probe commission found procedural lapses in 13 of the 15 deals, it failed to establish a nexus, if any, with persons in public office, individuals or any other organisation.

‘‘Any finding on other issues without investigation into the main charge (of corruption) will necessarily be an incomplete one and cannot be treated as a final conclusion of the commission even on such issues,’’ the government note said.

Justice Phukan made it a point to mention against each separate deal that Fernandes had nothing to do with the procurement or the deal in any way. Fernandes either was unaware or the file was not brought to his notice, the panel concluded. The government has entrusted the inquiry into all 15 transactions to the CBI. Further action would be taken only after the CBI completed its investigations, the government said.

The transactions include purchase of image intensifier tubes, Carl Gustav rocket launcher Mk III, simulators, light weight binoculars, hand held thermal imagers, Krasnopol ammunition, advanced jet trainers, armoured recovery vehicles, Barak anti-missile system, T-90 tanks, upgunning of 130 mm guns to 155 mm, tank navigation systems, Sukhoi-30 MkI, Kornet E and the Kandla Bhatinda pipeline,.

The commission recommended an in-house inquiry into most of the deals to fix responsibility on officials concerned, either in the Ministry of Defence, or one of the three service headquarters. Even in the procedural lapses, he pointed to the absence of post-contract review in most deals. According to him, all the deals were carried out in national interest.

Justice Phukan also referred to delays in purchase of certain items, including simulators and AJTs. He also gave certain suggestions to expedite the process, including fixing responsibility to an official at the level of both the MoD and the service headquarters to pursue the requirement to avoid unexplained delays.

Rejecting the ‘‘incomplete’’ report, the government said that in spite of a period of more than three-and-a-half years, the Commission, set up on March 24, 2001, could not complete its work. It had submitted its part report to the Prime Minister on February 4, 2004.

The commission had taken 47 months for 41-page part report.