Give probe on Scorpene fiasco to independent body or SC, says Congress

Questioning India's defence preparedness following the leak of details related to the French-made Scorpene submarine, the Congress on Thursday asked the Centre to form an independent probe body, or let the Supreme Court investigate the matter.

"Rather than taking it upon itself, the Defence Ministry or the NDA government should consent, that let an independent body or let a Retd. Supreme Court judge or serving Supreme Court judge look at the entire episode holistically, because ultimately what is the point of having a submarine whose operational capability is compromised," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told ANI.

Tewari described the entire episode as extremely unfortunate and disturbing and added that the enquiry is must as the DCNS would never admits to its alleged culpability, because of its other contracts across the world.

On Wednesday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar asked Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba to analyse the extent of the leak and find out whether it is related to India or not.

Parrikar said the government would come out with more information over the next couple of days.

On Tuesday, a report in Australian media revealed that sensitive information related to India's Scorpene submarines had been leaked, with French shipbuilder DCNS, which designed the submarine, facing a leak of documents spreading over 22,000 pages.

According to The Australian, the leak details the entire secret combat capability of the six Scorpene-class submarines that French shipbuilder DCNS has designed for the Indian Navy.

The Indian Navy informed today that documents posted on the website by The Australian, don't pose any security compromise as vital parameters have been blacked out.

"Matter has been taken up with the DG of Armaments of the French Government. We have requested their government to investigate with urgency and share findings with India. An internal audit of procedures to rule out any security compromise is also being undertaken," the Navy said.