Wednesday, May 4 2005 17:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: Justice S N Phukan, who probed the Tehelka expose on Defence deals, today (May 4, 2005) claimed that he had not asked for a VVIP aircraft from the Indian Air Force and neither did he give a clean chit to former Defence Minister George Fernandes.

''I did not ask for a VVIP aircraft. I asked my secretary to arrange for a trip which he did with the Government of India,'' Justice Phukan told reporters in Guwahati. He said that he had not given a clean chit to George Fernandes, but this was a hype created by the media.

''I never gave a clean chit to George Fernandes. This is being created by the media. I had merely said that there was no major irregularities in the Defence deals,'' he said.

The Justice also said that he was not aware that IAF aircraft were meant for VVIPs only.

''When I came back from Mumbai, the aircraft was so bad that I do not think it was a VVIP aircraft,'' he added.

Justice Phukan said that he had gone by road to Shirdi ''but otherwise it was an official visit to Pune, Ahmadnagar and Mumbai.''

Asked to comment on Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's suo moto statement in Lok Sabha on the issue, he said ''a judge does not react or comment. After passing a judgement a judge forgets. In this case, too, I have submitted a report and forgotten all about it.''