BJP demands action against PMO officials too

Seeking to drag the Prime Ministers Office into the controversy regarding the Antrix-Devas deal,the BJP on Wednesday said action against former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Madhavan Nair and three other officials was insufficient and sought to know if the role of PMO functionaries associated with the space commission had been investigated.

The deal was cancelled due to an alert Opposition and the media. Now holding some officials guilty for it and blacklisting them will serve very limited purpose. What about the PMO. Prithviraj Chavan used to chair all the meetings of the space commission…, party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

Javadekar said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must explain why no action has been taken against people responsible in his office. After all he is the Cabinet minister in charge of the Department of Space.

Story continues below this ad

The government has barred Nair and three other eminent space scientists from holding any government offices after a high powered committee submitted its report to the government on the controversial deal.

The contract with Devas was signed during the tenure of Nair as the chairman of ISRO.