MyNation takes a look at the scams that took place under the Congress and UPA era over the last 70 years and the status of each of them
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is right in saying that every defence deal under the Congress had a link to some “uncle or mama” in them. Because of the various links, a number of scams have taken place under different regimes of the Congress at different times.
MyNation takes a look at the scams that took place under the Congress and UPA era over the last 70 years and the status of each of them.
The alleged scam in the procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters for the Air Force came into light after a middleman was allegedly arrested in Italy by the prosecutors there. It was said that competitors of the Italian firm AgustaWestland were chucked out of the tender process to ensure that they bag the Rs 3,600 crore contract. It also came out that Rs 360 crore were paid to different agents to swing the deal to the Italians.
Status: The main alleged middleman Christen Michel has been extradited from the UAE couple of weeks ago and is in custody of the CBI for questioning.
The jeep scandal in 1948 was the first major corruption case in independent India. The then Indian high commissioner to Britain, VK Krishna Menon, ignored protocol to sign a Rs 80 lakh contract for the purchase of 200 army jeeps with a foreign firm. While the entire amount was paid up front, only 155 jeeps allegedly were provided to the forces. Though an inquiry committee was formed, it was shut down midway. Later on, Menon was appointed as the defence minister in the Nehru government.
Status: The case has been closed
The process to acquire four submarines had started during the Morarji Desai government in the 1970s. A Swedish company was the lowest bidder and was even shortlisted by the Navy for its requirements. However, after the Indira Gandhi government came to power, the specifications were allegedly manipulated by the officials to declare a West German firm as the winner in the deal. According to reports, 7% commission was paid to bag the contract.
Status: The case was dragged into the courts for several years and had to be shut due to lack of evidence.
Said to be the biggest defence scam in the country in terms of casualties, it triggered the downfall of Rajiv Gandhi as a politician. For acquiring 410 Bofors guns from Sweden, it was alleged that over Rs 65 crore was paid as kickbacks by the company to bag the deal. The scam was unearthed during the tenure of VP Singh as defence minister under Rajiv Gandhi and resulted in his ouster later on.
Status: Due to lack of support from successive governments, the case could not reach its logical end. However, PILs have been filed in the case for probing the matter further
This alleged scam took place in 2010 under the UPA government. The then Army Chief Gen VK Singh is credited for unearthing the issue as it was found that a public sector company, along with a few foreign vendors, was charging two to three times the original price of the trucks. It was also alleged that a retired Lt Gen tried to offer a bribe to Gen VK Singh for buying a tranche of 614 trucks for the Army.
Status: Case is moving towards closure.
Another big scam that came out during the UPA era was the flats that were supposed to be allotted to the families of Kargil war martyrs were taken away by politicians, bureaucrats, senior Army officers. The flats were situated on a plot of land just outside the military base in Mumbai. The Army raised its objections over the misuse of this land by the politician-bureaucracy-military officers' lobby and a number of senior politicians including the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had to resign.
Status: The MoD had done an inquiry into the case which has held two former chiefs guilty for accepting flats in the society.
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