Vajpayee said it as a joke: George

New Delhi, Mar 11 (UNI) Facing flak from the BJP for his reported remarks on Bofors, Former Defence Minister George Fernandes today said it was a joke on the part of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to have asked him not to touch the Bofors file.

''I may have been misquoted in my interview. Mr Vajpayee was joking when he asked me not to touch the bofors file...,'' Mr Fernandes told reporters.

According to newpaper reports, Mr Fernandes had recently said that when he was defence minister, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had asked him not to open the Bofors file.

''Haath mat lagana, Mr Vajpayee told me... but I was not probing the Bofors scam. I wanted tot go through the file to see how the Bofors guns performed in the 1999 Kargil war,'' Mr Fernandes, convenor of the BJP-led NDA, was quoted as having said.

Denying the reported statement, he said he, in fact, did go through the file.

UNI