Saturday, April 16 2005 11:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Accusing the Centre of filing contradictory affidavits on the Rs 2,000 crore Kargil arms deals scam, a petitioner has requested the Supreme Court to direct the Defence Ministry to place before it all reports of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which probed the matter.

In an application filed by petitioner K G Dhananjay Chauhan immediately after the Defence Ministry filed its second affidavit promising strict action against the then Defence Minister George Fernandes and other officials if they were found guilty of making personal benefits in these deals.

The second affidavit was filed in the wake of controversy created by its first affidavit widely perceived to be giving a clean chit to Fernandes in the procurement of arms and equipments during and immediately after Kargil war for Army.

Pointing out the contradictions in the two affidavits of the Defence Ministry, Chauhan alleged that the Government was "deliberately and intentionally suppressing and concealing" very vital information regarding Defence deals from the Apex Court and the public.

He claimed that the matter regarding procurement for 'Operation Vijay' conducted by the Army had already been investigated by the CBI and the Intelligence Bureau and their reports were considered by CVC.

"In these circumstances there was no need for the Centre to refer the matter again to CBI for investigation," he said.

Criticising Fernandes for castigating the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and CVC for raising doubts over the deals, Chauhan said the two reports of CVC dated August 7, 2000 and March 31, 2001 would throw much light on the controversy.