Barak probe: CBI seeks Israel`s cooperation

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) Three years after initiating
probe into the alleged irregularities during purchase of Barak
missiles in a Rs 1,150-crore deal, India's premier
investigating agency CBI has approached the Israel government
for its help in recording statements of some people besides
details of some bank transactions in that country.

A Letters Rogatory was issued from a designated court
here for Israeli government to seek its assistance in
investigations into the case, official sources said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had moved
the court for issuing the Letters Rogatory as the agency
alleged that part of offence was committed in Israel as the
"commission was paid by the seller in violation of the
contract entered with the Government".

The agency said documents were to be collected from
Israel and certain statements were to be recorded in order to
trace the chain of money, they said.

The CBI had registered a case in this connection and
named then Defence Minister George Fernandes, former naval
chief Sushil Kumar, president of now defunct Samata Party Jaya
Jaitley, arms dealer Suresh Nanda and others in October 2006.

It had questioned Fernandes, Admiral (retd) Kumar,
Jaya Jaitley, Nanda and former UPSC Chairman Subir Datta as
part of the probe.

CBI claimed in its FIR that the contract price for
purchasing seven Barak missile was about USD 17 million which
was higher than the price offered by Israel in early 1996.

"Fernandes wanted the proposal to be initiated from
below and he eventually overruled the learned opinion of then
Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) in
order to favour Israel Aircraft Industries and others," the
CBI had alleged in its FIR.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who was then
scientific advisor, had "strongly opposed" the proposal made
in 1999 by Admiral Kumar to import two surface-to-air missiles
but Fernandes "overruled" this view and gave the go-ahead, it
charged.

"The then Raksha Mantri (Fernandes) overruled opinion
of then Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister... against
import of any missile system and gave a go-ahead to the
proposal of Sushil Kumar on June 28, 1999," the CBI alleged.

The Defence Ministry had put up a note for CCS which
returned the proposal of acquiring some precision-guided
missiles as it had decided to defer import so that it could be
considered by the next government.

"Despite this note by the Defence Secretary, Fernandes
wrote back on September three, 1999, that installation of
Barak...systems on INS fleet was absolutely essential and
therefore, the CCS might be apprised of the urgency of
requirement and to seek its approval," the FIR said.

The case came to light in 2001 when a sting operation
was carried out by the news portal Tehelka that exposed
alleged irregularities in several defence deals, including the
one to purchase the Barak systems. PTI