SC grants 8 weeks to Def Ministry to report on arms deal

New Delhi, Aug 13 (UNI) The Supreme Court today granted eight weeks time to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to file its report on the action taken in the 18 cases invoving arms deals in which MoD officials have been indicted in the report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India(CAG).

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran granted time to MoD and CBI after amicus curiae Rakesh Trivedi told the court that no action was being taken in the matter and during last three years only two regular cases for alleged bungling in the import of caskets for martyrs of Kargil conflict have been registered.

Only five preliminary enquiries have been initiated and no chargesheet have been filed in any of the 25 cases in which senior defence ministry bureaucrats as well as then Defence Minister George Fernandes are facing allegations of making money illegally through corrupt means in the deal.

Earlier, the apex court had pulled up the central government on several occasions for dragging its feet in the investigation of the cases which involved total purchases of about Rs 2000 crore.

UNI