After Law advice,MoD defers business with tainted firms

However,the ministry is yet to take a call on whether trials would be carried out in the tender for light mountain howitzers for the Army in which Singapore Technologies (ST) is the only contender. The ST gun is already in the country but trials were put off after the company’s name surfaced in the Sudipta Ghosh case.

While the instructions by MoD explicitly say no deal can be signed with any of the tainted firms till the CBI inquiry is over,the Army has been insisting that at least trials for the light mountain howitzer and towed 155 mm guns,where again ST is one of the two contenders,should be carried out.

“No tender should be awarded to the companies mentioned in the FIR unless the CBI investigation clears them totally,” the instructions say.

Sources say the MoD has again written to the CVC and Law Ministry,referring to the specific case of ST and has asked for guidelines on whether or not to proceed with field trials of the guns. This,because the Law Ministry advice on dealing with ongoing tenders is slightly vague and is open to interpretation.

“In regard to the tender cases of procurement where the tender process has already been started and where the companies mentioned in the FIR are figuring,each case should be dealt as per the tender conditions,keeping in view the FIR in question,” the instructions say.

However,even if the ST guns meet the criteria of the Army,the final deal will be signed only if the company is cleared of corruption charges by the CBI.

The MoD has also decided to take action against the companies in cases where deals have already been signed. “Where contracts have been concluded and also executed,action would be taken against the companies,as per the provisions of the contract,on completion of the CBI investigation,” the MoD instructions say.

As first reported by The Indian Express,the MoD had blacklisted the seven companies — Singapore Technologies,Israeli Military Industries,T S Krishna and Co Pvt Limited,R K Machine Tools,Media Architects Pvt Ltd,HYT Engg,and BVT (Poland) — after their names surfaced in the CBI probe.

In a first,Army shops for non-lethal weapons

Manu Pubby

New Delhi

For years,‘shoot to kill’ has been the mantra of soldiers of the Indian Army who are trained to take down ‘one enemy with one shot’. However,in a sign of its changing role,the Army is for the first time shopping for non-lethal weapons to equip its infantry to deal with situations like riot-control and anti-terror operations.

In a first,the Army has sent out a Request for Information (RFI) to all global manufacturers to purchase an unspecified number of non-lethal weapons — guns or rifles that would be used to fire a variety of incapacitating ammunition like teargas shells,smoke grenades and rubber bullets. The RFI is the first step in the procurement that has already been approved by the Defence Ministry. The Army also wants a transfer of technology so that the equipment can be manufactured in India.

Currently,the only non-lethal weapons that infantry soldiers are equipped with are stun grenades to take on a hostage crisis.

The lookout for a non-lethal weapon comes at a time when the Armed Forces are increasingly being dragged in to control civilian law and order situations. This besides regular efforts like flood or earthquake relief and rescue operations. The Army has been called in over eight occasions over the past two years. The largest deployment took place in August last year when more than 4,500 soldiers were called in to control the situation following the Amarnath controversy in J&K. The Gurjjar riots and Gorkhaland stir are other examples.

In a recent paper,the premier think-tank of the Armed Forces,Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis,also advocated non-lethal weapons for the Army to take on increasing roles involving civilians. “The idea is not that the non-lethal weapons should replace lethal weapons,but to integrate them in a complementary manner while conducting internal security tasks. Nuanced use of force will indeed help the Army in winning hearts and minds,a vital aspect in such tasks,” says the paper,penned by research fellow Col Arvind Dutta.