NEW DELHI: The process of acquisition of the Barak missile system from Israel is replete with instances of "violation" of procurement rules, "overlooking" of the opinions of the then Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the then Defence Secretary T.R. Prasad, and "undue haste" shown by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government in clinching the Rs. 1,125-crore deal.

The process of acquisition of the missile system for installation on Indian warships began in late 1995 with field demonstrations, conducted in Israel, attended by a joint team of Indian Navy and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials, enquiries by the Central Bureau of Investigation have revealed.

As per the existing norms of procedure of Defence Procurement, 1992, DRDO concurrence was a pre-requisite for acquisition of any weapon system by import. But the DRDO never concurred with the option of importing the Barak anti-missile system during 1998-99, the CBI probe shows.

Mr. Kalam agreed to the proposal for acquiring six Barak-I systems with the condition that the Navy monitor and ensure the performance of the Barak system, as claimed by the Israeli firm, and that it place an order for indigenous Trishul missiles and systems to a give a thrust to production.

On December 16, 1996, the then Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav sought to know the status of the Trishul and whether it was possible to import it in smaller numbers to save on foreign currency. Curiously, Mr. Yadav's queries remained unanswered, documents available with The Hindu show.

Starting afresh in 1997, the Naval Headquarters initiated a proposal as part of modernisation of aircraft carrier INS Virat to retrofit the warship with the Barak AMD system. After the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the proposal was referred to the DRDO for its concurrence by the finance wing of the Defence Ministry. On November 3, 1998, A.S. Pillai, Chief Controller of the Integrated Guided Missile (IGM) Project, wrote that an indigenous solution would not only provide an option but also meet the time solution. He suggested that an immediate go-ahead be given for the project and the Barak import option closed.

George Fernandes, then Defence Minister, directly received a letter from the chairman of IAI Israel on November 2, 1998, seeking his personal intervention to get the Barak system inducted into the Indian Navy. Within the next 20 days, the Naval Headquarters wrote to the Principal Scientific Adviser, seeking his concurrence to import one Barak AMD system. As the CCS approval of October 3, 1997 was already received, Mr. Kalam said the Navy would take a decision on a "suitable missile system for INS Virat only without jeopardising the indigenous development of the Trishul system."

The defence establishment took the note as concurrence of the Scientific Adviser and the officers concerned went to the extent of seeking early constitution of a Price Negotiation Committee to import one Barak module.

CBI enquiries disclosed that on June 15, 1999, the then Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) proposed import of two surface-to-air missile systems. Mr. Kalam opposed the proposal in his June 23, 1999 letter.

On June 25, the then CNS Admiral Sushil Kumar submitted a fresh proposal to Mr. Fernandes.

Mr. Fernandes overruled Mr. Kalam's opinion against import of any missile system and gave the go-ahead for Admiral Sushil Kumar's proposal on June 28, 1999.

A draft CCS note was put up to T.R. Prasad, then Defence Secretary, who on August 30, 1999 said the CCS had returned proposals on acquisition of some of the precision guided missiles and it decided to defer the proposals, to be considered by the next Government. Despite this note, Mr. Fernandes wrote that the installation of the Barak AMD system was "absolutely essential" and that the CCS might be informed of the urgency of the requirement.

The CCS note, along with the DRDO objections, was approved on March 2, 2000 and the contract signed on October 23, 2000 for procurement of seven Barak AMD systems along with 200 missiles.

During investigations, it came to light that R.K. Jain, then national treasurer of Mr. Fernandes' Samata Party, told Tehelka news portal reporters that he and Jaya Jaitly, then party chief, had received illegal gratifications from defence agent Suresh Nanda, and that they used their "personal influence" to get the proposal for import of the Barak AMD system approved by Mr. Fernandes.

He allegedly admitted that Mr. Fernandes and Ms. Jaitly got three per cent of the contract cost as commission while he was given half per cent, the CBI documents said.

The probe revealed that huge suspected payments had been remitted from Motoren-und-Turbines Union (MTU), GMBH, supplier of diesel engines to IAI Vessels, into the bank accounts of Dynatron Services, a company managed by Mr. Nanda and his family members during that period.

IAI Limited also had a close business relationship with Magnum International Trading Company and Eureka Sales Corporation of Sudhir Choudhary, a former business associate of Mr. Nanda. Mr. Choudhary's companies also received suspected remittances running into millions of dollars from IAI Limited during 1998-2001, enquires have indicated. Suspected remittances have also been made into the bank accounts of TSL Defence Technologies Private Limited, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, and its owner Arvind Khanna from IAI and Rafael of Israel.

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