(Reopens DEL62)

Observing that scams in the defence establishment have "kept on happening", CPI's D Raja said from Bofors and HDW submarine deals to the coffin scandal and a former army chief saying he was offered bribe to sanction substandard trucks, scam after scam has surfaced. "This shows there is something seriously rotten in the defence establishment. Such scams do not just cause financial losses to the country, but these are also a matter of concern for national security," he said, adding that those against whom allegations were made were "people at the top". Raja said that despite Antony's assurances of a CBI probe, a mechanism should be evolved so that all such deals happen in a transparent manner and those involved in finalising them were accountable and answerable to Parliament and the people. Yechury said, "We have said on many occasions and have been reiterating that these (defence deals) have to be kept under strict supervision and this matter (the VIP chopper deal) should be thoroughly probed." All the loopholes found in such an inquiry should be "plugged properly. We have been saying this since the last ten years. This fresh case re-emphasises the same point," he said.