BJP punches holes in govt's Scorpene defence

Not satisfied with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement defending the way Scorpene submarine systems were purchased, the BJP today said the government was "obfuscating" the issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh, said the renegotiation of the price by Rs 313 crore, as claimed by the defence minister, was an "obfuscation" because the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had approved a certain sum for the deal.

"Who renegotiated and brought the price down?" Singh asked. He said the amount sanctioned was Rs 18,798 crore. "The government said it spent Rs 18,798 crore under various heads. How did it manage to save Rs 313 crore?" he said.

Singh said the government had also "confounded confusion" on the Naval war room leak. The defence minister's statement said the Air Headquarters examined the pen drive seized from a retired Naval officer. "How does Air Headquarters have jurisdiction over a retired Naval officer," Singh said.

He also referred to the Naval Board of Enquiry's findings that there had been "leakage of information of commercial value to unauthorised persons."

"Who were these unauthorised persons?" he said.

Singh said the involvement of foreigners was admitted by the Navy in its affidavit filed in the Delhi High Court in reply to a petition filed by Kashyap Kumar.

"Who are these foreigners? Why has the government not taken action against them so far? Who are the civilians involved? Why have they not been named?" Singh said. He also wanted to know why Abhishek Verma and Ravi Shankaran, allegedly involved in the deal, had been allowed to travel abroad.