SC goes tough on scams, laundering-Aug 17, 2011

SC goes tough on scams, laundering

TNN | Aug 17, 2011, 03.52AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed unhappiness over the progress of investigations into irregularities in the purchase of intelligence equipment and recruitments by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), which was set up in 2004 to provide crucial data on threats to the nation.

A bench of Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik asked solicitor general R F Nariman about the status of the probe into the alleged irregularities pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General and also wanted to know why the CAG report had not been placed before Parliament.

Petitioner V K Mittal alleged that a major portion of the Rs 450 crore NTRO scam pertained to purchase of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from an Israeli firm allegedly at a very high price without the mandatory approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

NTRO has been entrusted with the task of missile monitoring, satellite and airborne imagery, cyber patrolling and security, cyber offensive operations, communication support systems including cryptology.

The court was critical of the manner in which the government appeared to brush aside the CAG's concerns and issued notices to the Union government through the secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, NTRO, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and CAG. NTRO functions under PMO. It asked for the parties to file their responses within four weeks.

It was on the complaint of Mittal, a former joint director in the government of India who had also served in NTRO, that the PMO had ordered a probe into the scam and later, CAG was asked to look into the organisation's accounts.

Mittal's counsel, senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, alleged that the Delhi High Court had dismissed his writ petition on April 6, 2011, after the Centre filed a probe status report in sealed cover assuring prompt action against the guilty officials. However, no action has been taken till date, he alleged.

Mittal's petition stated that the independent body answerable only to the National Security Adviser has been allotted approximately Rs 8,000 crore since 2005, but there had been no accounting of the spendings.