Norms not violated in procuring Barak, says Navy chief

NEW DELHI: Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash has said that all procedures and norms were followed by the navy in the procurement of the controversial Barak-I missile, named in a CBI FIR against Former defence minister George Fernandes and the then Navy chief Sushil Kumar.

Mr Prakash’s statement lends weight to the argument that the CBI’s case against the former navy chief Sushil Kumar, for having overruled the DRDO’s objections to the purchase of the Israeli anti-missile system, is weak. In a statement to agencies, Mr Prakash reiterated his support for the Barak missile, describing it as “very good and incomparable.”

Taken together, the statements could be read as a rebuttal of the CBI’s case against Mr Sushil Kumar and by import former defence minister George Fernandes, for having overruled the objections raised by DRDO to the purchase of the Barak-I missile.

The CBI in its FIR against Mr Kumar has alleged that he “colluded with the other accused and put up a note directly to the defence minister to import six Barak AMD missiles, misrepresenting facts and citing a DRDO concurrence given three years ago when the indigenous Trishul system was in its initial stages of development and when in fact the chief of naval staff had discussed this matter that very day with the then DRDO chief, who had opposed the proposal...

”This claim made by the CBI has been questioned by several Naval experts who have regarded the DRDO as an impediment in defence procurement, which has managed to prevent the forces from buying equipment by arguing in favour of making it indigenously.

Several experts, including naval officers have pointed out that the DRDO hardly ever delivers, or if it does it is too late. However, Mr Prakash’s statements are also, in a sense, a defence of his own decision on the Barak deal as he was then working under Mr Kumar as the Navy’s chief of personnel and was also the chairman of the price negotiation committee for the Barak-I deal in ’01.

Talking to a news channel, Mr Prakash added that the was concerned about the Barak deal, given that India has signed a transfer of technology agreement with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) in January this year for 11 more Barak missiles at cost of about 1,500 crore. Defending the missile he said: “As far as we (Navy) are concerned, it (Barak) is a very good system. I don’t think there is anything comparable today in any Navy”.

The statement of the Navy chief comes on a day when Mr Fernandes wrote to prime minister Manmohan Singh calling him a silent spectator to the “gross and unprecedented misuse of the CBI.” In the letter, he has also claimed that he did not make any derogatory remarks about president APJ Abdul Kalam, whom he held in high esteem, in the Barak matter.