Friday, April 28 2006 15:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today (Apr 28, 2006) issued notices to the Union Government and the CBI on a PIL seeking an independent probe into Rs 1600 crore Scorpene submarine deal wherein kickbacks were allegedly received by several middlemen.

A Division Bench, headed by acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain, asked the respondents to file their counter-affidavits within three weeks and posted the matter for further hearing to May 30.

The petition, filed on behalf of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), alleged the Government, instead of acting against the alleged middlemen, chose to initiate CBI inquiry against certain defence personnel on the pretext of leaking war-room secrets.

The petitioner alleged that though the Governement had prior information about the shady deal and involvement of middlemen as pointed out by the Central Vigilance Conmission and the Ministry of Defence, the contract was finalised for obvious reasons.

The petition quoted various official communications and parliamentary discussions, besides the investigative reportspublished in the 'Outlook' mgazine to buttress the demand for a probe into the deal since it involves national security.

The PIL sought a probe into the entire deal either by the CBI or any other special task force. The CPIL had approached the Supreme Court on April 10 with a similar plea but the apex Court directed the petitioner to move the High Court.