National
Fernandes puts up an unconvincing defence
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, DEC. 11. The Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, today faced a demanding time, facing pointed questions from scribes on the coffin import scandal. The Minister's weak defence for purchasing fancy but unusable coffins and his frequent fumbling while replying to sharp queries at the over-crowded press conference left many unconvinced.
Specially invited at the daily BJP press conference, Mr. Fernandes started with a spirited defence for purchasing American coffins made from high quality alumunium used in aircraft frames at a price 10 times higher. But as the queries grew uncomfortable, the former socialist took refuge behind Parliamentary procedure and had to be often assisted by the BJP spokesman, Mr. V.K. Malhotra.
According to the CAG, the caskets were sourced from just one company without any regard to the price, despite the fact that an Army official had pointed out that coffins had been sourced by the Indian peace-keeping contingent in Somalia for a fraction of the price. Though the ostensible reason for reviving a latent Army proposal was the urgent need to lift bodies from the Kargil sector, the first batch of the coffins arrived well after the hostilities were over. Moreover, the coffins were three times the contracted weight and made from ``aeronautical grade alumunium'' which was being purchased for one-tenth the cost by Hindustan Aeronautical Limited.
To cap the long list of anomalies, the Defence Ministry paid 90 per cent of the cost of the first batch of these overweight and expensive coffins as soon as they arrived in March 2000. ``The transaction achieved little, other than benefit the supplier,'' noted the CAG. The Defence Ministry, in its reply to the CAG, stated that after the caskets were found to be too heavy, the contract was cancelled, the performance bond furnished by the vendor encashed and it was decided not to pay 10 per cent of the cost.
The kernel of Mr. Fernandes' reply also revolved around these arguments, with the Minister refusing to address the moral repugnancy surrounding the episode. His stock reply to all queries about the Government's future course of action was that the Defence Ministry would make available all files to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which would be examining the issue in due course.
Flustered by the slew of questions thrown at him, Mr. Fernandes also contradicted himself at times. At one stage, he said the decision to import fancy coffins was not brought to his notice while he was Minister. Should Army officers be then held accountable for this decision, he was asked. Mr. Fernandes sought refuge in teflon patriotism. ``Such a charge will be very offensive towards the Army and do great injustice to it. The Army was fighting a war at that time.''
However, the Minister was unwilling to order an in- house probe and his only response to questions of this nature was that the onus was now on the PAC to fix the responsibility and the Defence Ministry would extend all possible cooperation. And in case the company failed to re-imburse the amount, the Government would go in for arbitration, he declared.
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