New scam hits India's forces

New Delhi: Another alleged defence scam has now hit the Indian defence establishment, with defence minister A.K. Antony ordering a CBI probe into allegations of bribery in a deal worth thousands of crores for supply of aircraft engines by UK-based Rolls- Royce to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, government sources confirmed Sunday.

The deal, signed a few years ago, relates to supply of engines for the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft for the Indian Air Force. Rolls-Royce may also participate in an engine upgradation programme with HAL for the IAF’s Jaguar fleet upgradation, and is also supplying spare parts. The allegations are that bribes were paid to certain HAL officials between 2007 and 2011.

This is the second recent case of allegations of bribery that involve a UK-based company, the first being Agusta Westland. A Rolls-Royce representative did not offer any reaction but there were indications a response may come by Monday.

The alleged scam has raised fears of delays in procurements for the IAF. The company will be needed for engine upgradations in future. Some reports say the 2007 Rolls-Royce deal is worth about Rs 10,000 crores.The allegations surfaced after HAL got a letter recently saying bribes were paid to officials in HAL and other departments involved in bagging contracts.

HAL immediately initiated an inquiry into the charges through its Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), which has purportedly found credence in the charges. The investigations by the HAL CVO purportedly found prima facie that Rolls Royce could have violated several of the contractual obligations with HAL between the period of 2007-11, when these bribes were allegedly paid. The issue came to light after HAL issued queries to its vendors and suppliers to ensure probity in its transactions as part of its integrity pact to be signed with them.

After the case with the findings and recommendations of the HAL CVO was brought to the notice of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Defence Minister Antony ordered that the case be handed over to CBI for further investigations, sources said. The Defence Minister has been firm that he would not allow any corruption in the procurement process and would take strict action even if it means delays. In his seven and a half year tenure so far as Defence Minister, Mr. Antony has handed over scores of cases to the CBI for probe. The Government’s policy is to blacklist companies which have broken contractual provisions but in the recent case of termination of the VVIP helicopter deal, the Government has still not blacklisted Agusta.

The Hawk 132 AJT with Rolls Royce aircraft engines is now being indigenously manufactured by HAL through transfer of technology. The AJT Hawk has a glass cockpit and a state of the art avionics suite including the “new generation Inertial Navigation System”. The Hawk AJT is also equipped with communication sets, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system and the radio altimeter. In addition to being an advanced jet trainer, the Hawk 132 AJT is fully combat-capable and can also carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-ground armaments. It can also be used as a lightweight fighter. The deal for acquisition of AJT Hawks was inked between AJT Hawk-manufacturer BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2004.