Defence minister denies NDA charge of scam in Scorpene deal

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has denied opposition charge of scam in the Scorpene submarine deal and said that the deal has an ''Integrity clause'' the violation of which would result in not only cancellation of deal but also heavy penalties.

''If it is found that a middleman had been deployed, there will not only be cancellation of contract , there will be heavy penalities also,'' Mr Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of PC Lal Memorial Lecture here.

The Defence Minister vehemently denied the NDA charge of scam and their demand for immediate termination of the deal and setting up of a credible judicial probe. He said that in the Scorpene deal there was nothing to investigate right now because nothing new has come.

''So far as the Board Room leak is concerned CBI investigation is there.'' According to Mr Mukherjee, most of the negotiations for the Scorpene deal was completed by the previous NDA government from 1998 to 2004. When the UPA government came to power after election, it started re-negotiation.

''We have been able to reduce the pirce by more than Rs 300 crore. We have also been able to ensure the signing of Integrity Pact. The consequences of which, if it appears in any point of time that deployment of middlemen was there, the party will have to suffer heavy penality.'' The Defence Minister said that he would make a comprehensive statement on the issue in Parliament tomorrow.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition L K Advani, NDA Convener George Fernandes and Mr Jaswant Singh, who happened to be former Defence Ministers, had leveled the charge of scam in the deal and demanded immediate detention of middleman Abhishek Verma, son of a former Congress MP and his associates.

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