Rolls Royce contract: BJP demands court-monitored probe

BJP was not satisfied with CBI probe alleging the govt is in habit of hiding scams and indulging in cover-ups

BJP today demanded a court- monitored probe into alleged bribery in the purchase of Rolls -Royce aircraft engine and targeted the government once again on the issue of corruption in this context.

The party was not satisfied with the CBI probe ordered by the Defence Minister alleging the government is in the habit of hiding scams and indulging in cover-ups.

"The Congress regime always tried to hide the scam in the first place and deny the existence of the scam afterwards. It instituted investigation only when cornered by the circumstances.

"The investigation makes progress only if it is monitored by the courts, otherwise it becomes a cover-of operation. We demand a court-monitored probe into this," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

He said it is intriguing that every major scam during UPA rule has been discovered outside India and it is only then that the government is forced to order a domestic investigation.

He said in this series, UK Serious Fraud Office arrested arms dealer Sudhir Chaudhary and his son Bhanu and initiated investigations into the allegations of fraud in the defence deal, only after which UPA was forced to order a CBI probe.

"India does not want scams to come out. It wants to suppress them. Congress attitude towards corruption is to keep quiet and suppress the truth from coming out," he said, adding Congress-led UPA government was forced to institute a CBI inquiry as Indian Defence Procurement System does not allow middlemen or advisors/consultants.

Javadekar said that earlier the VVIP chopper scam also was pursued by the Italian authorities and they arrested two middlemen and when the Italian courts started hearing the case, it was revealed through documents that bribes were paid to officials and two politicians for whom abbreviations like "FAM" and "AP" were used.

He said it was only after allegations of Rs 200 crore kickbacks cropped up that the Indian Government was forced to cancel the deal.

He also cited the examples of Tatra Truck scam and the Navy war room leak scams which were also exposed by external agencies.

Besides, he said, the Bofors scam came to light because of a radio station in Sweden blowing the lead.