AK Antony was aware of Tatra scam since 2009

Even as Defence Minister AK Antony is seeking to assure transparency in defence procurement, it appears that he may have more to explain, especially in the controversial Tatra trucks deal.

According to documents available with DNA newspaper, Antony knew of the Tatra trucks scam as early as 2009 but he chose not to act on the matter.

This is in contrast to his claims made in Parliament that Army Chief General VK Singh had informed him in September 2010 that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to clear the purchase of a tranche of 600 Tatra trucks.

Antony had told Parliament that he had asked the Army Chief to act in the matter and take action against the person guilty, but the latter chose not to pursue it. Due to this, Antony said, he could not act as he had not got any “written complaint”.

However, DNA reports that Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, also a senior Congress party leader, had written to Antony on October 5, 2009 on behalf of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi seeking “necessary action” in the Tatra case.

The Defence Ministry’s Department of Defence Production had even replied on October 22 that year stating that a probe was underway into the Tatra trucks deal.

“I would like to inform you that the matter is being examined in this ministry… the examination may take some time. As such, the minister (Azad) will be communicated after detailed examination of the case at appropriate level,” the letter stated.

Azad’s letter followed a complaint made in August 2009 to Sonia Gandhi by Dr D Hanumanthappa, president of the Karnataka wing of All India Federation of SC/ST/Backward Class and Minority Employees Welfare Association, alleging the BEML was purchasing Rs 6,000 crores worth of Tatra trucks from a UK agent and not from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), which was against established defence procurement rules.

BEML is the nodal agency appointed by the government to procure trucks for the Indian Army.

Dr Hanumanthappa says he had “met Sonia Gandhi and Defence Minister Antony personally” and got assurance of necessary action in the matter. “However, until today, I have not received any response on what happened to my complaint,” he said.

Apart from Antony, even then Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily was made aware of the scam.

Moily too had assured Dr Hanumanthappa of action in the matter but nothing happened on that front too.

Union Law Minister Khurshid: Anna should decide limits of agitation

Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said all demands of Anna Hazare on Lokpal Bill "cannot be accepted" and the activist has to decide the "limits" of his exercise.

"We have included all good points (suggested by Team Anna) in the Lokpal Bill. But not everything they say we are in a position to accomodate because a lot of other people think differently," Khurshid told reporters on the sidelines of a conference 'Electoral Reforms in India - The Role of Intellectuals' here.

"Anna Hazare has a role to perform and it is a legitimate exercise, but he has to decide what the limits of exercise are," Khurshid said, adding that the government would not advise him on that front.

Asked whether he would appeal to Hazare to not go on fast from December 27, he replied that personally he would not do so, but would if the government takes a collective decision on the matter. "But there is no such decision taken by the government," he said.

Asked whether the Lokpal Bill undermined the autonomy of the CBI, Khurshid said the government and other investigation agencies, including the Lokpal, would not interfere in the probes conducted by the CBI.

"CBI also must know that they would not do all the investigation themselves, Lokpal would be free to give investigation to any other agency if they wished so," the minister clarified.

"I can assure you more than the CBI, the Law Ministry understands the integrity of the investigation. We have vetted it (Lokpal Bill) very carefully and I don't believe we have any problems with it," he added.

Replying to a question, Khurshid said if corruption is encouraged by elections, as alleged by Hazare, there are ways to contain it.

"We cannot sacrifice democracy at the altar of fight against corruption. We will have to find a combined and convergent method to strengthen democracy and weaken corruption," he said.

Khurshid also appealed to the BJP to play a constructive role in passing the Lokpal Bill in Parliament. "If there are differences between the parties, they must be sorted out," he said.

However, "arguing in front of the media and sharing space at the India Against Corruption platform" was not the best way to go about it, he said.

"They are very experienced leaders. I must not be telling them what should not be done," he said.

Reacting to the BJP charge that Congress "propped up" RJD chief Lalu Prasad for derailing the focus of the Lokpal Bill by welcoming reservation for minority quota, Khurshid said, "It will not be fair to say we have propped up or provoked him.

"Laluji is very strong in his opinions and sometimes they might help the government, but sometimes they might hurt," the minister said. "They are his opinions and I think we should respect everybody's opinions".

Asked about Congress leader Digvijay Singh's stance on attacking Team Anna, Khurshid said the party leader is "a warrior".