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PMO, NSA shielding CAG-indicted NTRO – The Pioneer

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SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2012 00:27 J GOPIKRISHNAN | NEW DELHI

While the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Advisor are trying to hush up the wrongdoings by powerful technical intelligence agency, NTRO, by not tabling the CAG report in Parliament, the CAG response to an RTI query confirms blatant violations in purchase and recruitments in the sensitive organisation.

The CAG submitted its report to the President in mid-February 2011. As per tradition, this should have been tabled in Parliament in the next session. But the Government has not mustered the courage to table it even after more than a year.

The Government may attract breach of privilege notices from parliamentarians as it is going to submit the report to the Supreme Court on March 19. All the CAG reports are first placed in Parliament, which makes it public.

This will be the first time the Government will bypass Parliament and submit a CAG report to the Supreme Court. The SC had ordered for production of the controversial CAG report in a sealed cover on a petition filed by former joint secretary of National Technical Research Organisation VK Mittal.

“We have noticed lack of transparency and non-compliance of rules and procedures in procurement of systems/stores/equipment and deficient procurement management resulting in cases of excess payment/wasteful expenditure/loss to exchequer,” said the CAG’s office in the RTI reply sought by whistleblower VK Mittal.

“We have noticed cases of appointment of ineligible candidates and lack of transparency in recruitment of regular employees also in NTRO…. We have noticed lack of transparency in appointment of contractual employees… We have noticed instances of misuse of official position,” added CAG’s office.

CAG decision to audit on NTRO affairs in December 2009 was vehemently objected by then National Security Advisor MK Naryanan and later overruled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. NTRO, which was formed after the Kargil war, works under NSA who reports to the Prime Minister.

The CAG submitted its performance audit on the NTRO, the first such audit report on an intelligence organisation in mid-February 2011. The report, according to sources, exposed the style of functioning and rampant corruption in secret service organisation, nepotism and siphoning money in the name of national security. The findings of the CAG were pointing directly towards the “arbitrary decisions” of then NSA and higher officials in the PMO, said sources.

Among the major findings, the blatant violation of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) purchases by manipulating the decisions of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). The CAG report, a copy of which is also with National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon over the past one year, has indicted former NTRO Chairman KVSS Prasad Rao and its Advisor MS Vijayaraghavan for misdeeds in several purchases.

The CAG’s Special Audit on Performance and Finance of NTRO has revealed that the agency, in a bid to favour the Israeli vendors, never informed the CCS on adding extra cost of Rs 150 crore. The CCS sanctioned Rs 300 crore for purchase and NTRO manipulated the accounting procedures and hiked the purchase amount to Rs 450 crore.

More over CAG found that the entire such purchase to favour the Israeli vendor lead to inferior quality and the entire UAVs are still non-operational.

The CAG in its report on the functioning of NTRO found that as many as 143 posts in the sensitive organisation were filled not according the procedures and observed severe nepotism in such postings. The CAG decided to audit when Mittal, who quit from the organisation and complained on illegalities.

After Government hushed up the CAG report by not tabling before Parliament, he approached Supreme Court through noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan. In a recent hearing, Justices HL Dattu and CK Prasad directed Solicitor General Rohinton Nariman to submit the controversial CAG report on March 19 in a sealed cover. Several legal experts point out that non-tabling of CAG report before Parliament and presenting it in a sealed cover before court may invite breach of privilege by Parliamentarians.

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Serious lapses in NTRO equipment buying: CAG

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Serious lapses in NTRO equipment buying: CAG

by Danish Raza Mar 12, 2012 First Post

New Delhi: While the Comptroller and Auditor General’s  (CAG) special audit report of National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO)remains a top secret, the auditing authority has officially admitted it found serious lapses in recruitment of regular employees and procurement of equipment by NTRO.

“We have noticed cases of appointment of ineligible candidates and lack of transparency in recruitment of regular employees in NTRO,” the office of the Directorate General of Audit (central expenditure), an arm of CAG, said in response to RTI application filed by V.K. Mittal

The findings of NTRO audit have not been made public.The report has not been placed before the Parliament. The agency is a highly specialised technical intelligence gathering agency.

Responding to a query on the types of irregularities which were detected in procurement of systems/ equipment, the auditing body said, “We have noticed lack of transparency and non- compliance of rules in procurement of systems/ equipment and deficient procurement management resulting in cases of excess payment/ wasteful expenditure to exchequer.”

According to the RTI reply dated February 29, 2012, a copy of which is with Firstpost, CAG has also noticed instances of misuse of official position. CAG has also informed Mittal that neither NTRO nor the National Security Advisor (NSA) has filed any action taken report based on special audit report- a first for any intelligence agency in India.

In other words, NSA received the audit report but took no action based on its findings.

“The fact that the CAG has detected bungling in NTRO but nothing was to curb it, calls for greater accountability in NTRO and other similar bodies,” said Mittal.

The NTRO, created in 2004, is a technical intelligence wing of the government of India. It reports directly to the NSA.

Mittal, a former scientist with NTRO and one of the founding members of the organization, exposed a series of irregularities in the purchase of defence equipment in NTRO. He wrote to the NSA and the Prime Minister’s Office about lack of transparency in procuring of equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles, by the NTRO.

Last year, Mittal filed a petition in Delhi High Court on the issue. The High Court refused to interfere in the matter directing the CAG to proceed in accordance with law.

Mittal then moved Supreme Court which, in August last year, issued notices to the PMO, Central Vigilance Commission, NTRO and CAG.

In the next hearing on March 19, the government has to submit the auditor’s report in the Supreme Court before the bench of justice H L Dattu and C K Prasad.

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SC asks for a copy of CAG report on NTRO scam

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SC asks for a copy of CAG report on NTRO scam

TNN | Jan 17, 2012, 12.47AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked for a copy of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report pointing out alleged irregularities in the purchase of intelligence equipment byNational Technical Research Organisation(NTRO), which was set up in 2004 to provide critical data relating to threats to the nation.

Solicitor general R F Nariman assured a bench of Justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad that the government had already initiated action against erring officials on the basis of the CAG report but petitioner V K Mittal’s counsel Jayant Bhushan wondered why the Centre was shy of bringing the alleged irregularities into the open by placing the report in Parliament.

The bench asked Nariman to produce the CAG report on NTRO scam in a sealed cover by March 19. This is the second time within a year that the apex court has asked for a CAG report, the first being on the irregularities in the allotment of 2G spectrum and licences during A Raja’s tenure as telecom minister.

Nariman was belligerent in trashing Mittal’s PIL, not only accusing the latter of attempting to serve a personal interest but also alleging that his correspondence with the authorities revealing top secret projects with their location could help countries inimical to India.

Bhushan countered Nariman by alleging that the government was deliberately keeping the matter under wraps in the name of security to shield the culprits. But the bench said, “It is not a case where the government has put the issue in cold storage but promised that it was being looked into. We will not pass an order but request the SG to produce the CAG report in a sealed cover on March 19.”

Mittal had alleged that a major portion of the Rs 450 crore NTRO scam pertained to purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from an Israeli firm allegedly at a very high price without the mandatory approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

NTRO, which functions under the Prime Minister’s Office, has been entrusted with the task of missile monitoring, satellite and airborne imagery, cyber patrolling and security, cyber offensive operations and communication support systems including cryptology.

It was on the complaint of Mittal, a former joint director in the government of India who had also served in NTRO, that the PMO had ordered a probe into the scam and later, CAG was asked to look into the organisation’s accounts. Nariman alleged that Mittal wanted to head the NTRO and filed the PIL when he did not succeed.

During the last hearing, Bhushan had alleged that Delhi High Court had dismissed Mittal’s writ petition on April 6, 2011 after the Centre filed a probe status report in sealed cover assuring prompt action against the guilty officials. However, no action was taken till date, he claimed.

Mittal’s petition stated that the independent body answerable only to the national security adviser was allotted approximately Rs 8,000 crore since 2005, but there was no accounting of the spending.

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Appeal to All Retired/Serving Officials of DRDO – Please Provide Inputs & Suggestion for PIL’s

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Dear friends

To save our premier organization from clutches of corrupt official it is time to submit PIL’s in honorable Supreme Court/ High Court. The people who retired or serving in DRDO are very well know that how much neck deep corruption, nepotism, favoritism and misuse of funds prevailing in DRDO.

So far DRDO has escaped from the attentions of the various agencies like CAG, CVC, CBI, Income Tax, Custom and Sales Tax etc.  The www.corrutionindrdo.com received lot of information which can attract the above all agencies and in few cases the information also about how DRDO fooling or misleading these agencies.

We have to tell the honorable Court that DRDO senior management is as corrupt as Sh P J Thamos, Ex- CVC, or as Justice Soumitra Sen (first judge impeached by Rajyashabha) and some corrupt as Sh Andimuthu Raja (2G scam fame minister) as Smt Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (2G scam fame member of Parliament) as Sh Suresh Kalmadi ( CWG scam fame member of Parliament)  are now in Tihar Jail.

DRDO established in the year 1958 with a humble beginning to technical support to the defence forces, as an integral part Ministry of Defence along with defence production units. The successive war fought by India such as 1962 with China, 1956 & 1971 with Pakistan and 1999 Kargil war it has been proved that DRDO has not played significant role and exhausted billion of billion  poor tax payers money.

The promised were like bring moon on Earth as programs like IGMDP (Missile Program), MBT (Arjun), SAMYUKTA(Electronic Warfare), LCA(Tejas Aircraft), RADARS, SHIPS, SUBMARINE, Bread, Butter, Jam etc.

Until 1980 DRDO spread from Kanyakumari to Leh and Gujrat to North East. The huge Infrastructure were built (1 Lakh Crores) and high technical man power recruited                 ( 30000) by passing UPSC and aim was to develop import substitute but with the passage of time:-

  1. DRDO forgot all the commitments to the defence forces and instead of strengthen the forces it played role of obstacles for procurement latest technology.
  2. DRDO directors, Hqrs justify their successive failures but consumed 7-8 % of defence budget annually.
  3. The total failures were reviewed by ministry of defence and 439 projects was short closed/ aborted(before time)
  4. Programs which were initiated by 1990 with the promise of deliverable products were failed measurably the poor tax payer’s money which were supposed to play a positive role in country’s defence were mere wasted.
  5. Today we are importing the import substitute latest example like SDR and befooled the countryman.
  6. In the name of SECRECY article’s of 1927 & 1965 seals the corrupt DRDO top brasses and they are siphoning the precious money in the broad day light to their son’s, daughter’s, spouse, relatives and friends bank accounts.
  7. Orders are placed with foreign firms through open / limited tenders but the case is negotiated with these private pocket firms which are related to them. As a result huge DRDO money goes to massage parlour, Cocktails Party’s  and dowry with Mercedes Benz ( Ex Director DIITM, DRDO Hqrs was generously to give Mercedes Benz to his Son In Law)
  8. Fighting against corruption prevailing in DRDO since 2001 have collected enough information and ready to file PIL .  Through website www.corruptionindrdo.com many many honest, patriotic and nationalist people join their hands and supplied lot information about corruption, nepotism to save our DRDO.

I appeal to my brothers and sisters of serving and retired DRDO officials to join hands in support the PIL’s for cleaning the DRDO from corrupt officials and make DRDO a perfect productive organization so our future talented boys and girls not quit from DRDO due to unethical environment.

The proposed PIL will be submitted through Sh Vinay Kumar Mittal, Ex Scientist ‘G’, DRDO and whistle blower of NTRO. The PIL’s will be presented by Sh Prashant Bhushan the noted advocated   Sh Anna’s right hand.

  1. Extension / contracts/ consultancy of corrupt DRDO officials beyond the 60 years of service
  2. Recruitment/ Assessment tool used to encourage corruption/ nepotism/favoritism and kick backs in recruitment and assessments( DRDO RAC activities and the role of RAC chairman)
  3. To fix the accountability. So far nobody is answerable to anybody in DRDO. It has inculcated a culture to encourage bluff and give benefit to bluff masters.
  4. To expose all DRDO serving/ retire top officials having companies which are involving in unethical business directly or indirectly and siphoning the poor tax payer’s money.

Sh Vinay Kumar Mittal, Ex Scientist ‘G’, DRDO has kindly agreed and offered his services to submit PIL’s who already brought the NTRO corruption in the notice of honorable Supreme Court as well as in the notice of common people of India.

Thanking you

Regards
Prabhu Dayal Dandriyal
21-Sunderwala, Raipur, Dehradun-248008
Phone – 2787750, Mobile- 9411114879,

E-mail id prabhudoon@gmail.com,  prabhu@dandriyal.com                                          Website –  www.corruptionindrdo.com

From   Vinay Kumar Mittal vkm021055@gmail.com
To       prabhu@dandriyal.com
Date    Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 6:48 AM

Subject  Request for information for filing PIL in Delhi High Court against DRDO

Dear Prabhu,

i am an avid reader of your site about what is happening in DRDO.

DRDO of today is not the DRDO of yesteryear’s . There no doubt that there is massive corruption , favoritism , nepotism , misuse of official position and funds in various laboratorieses of DRDO. DRDO Laboratory Director are ‘neo kings’ who are law unto themselves . I remember a Director’s conference in mid 900’s when Dr. Arunachalam was SA and T.N Sheshan was Defence Secretary . He very open  said that  ‘”when you visit a DRDO lab there will be  a long pathway –  you open one gate then second gate and finally a third gate to see the king (Director)  sitting and ruling over his empire. They consider themselves nothing less than kings – the Maharaja with lab staff and scientist as their praja”.

I have personally witnessed all this and deeply saddened

What went wrong with NTRO is this DRDO culture which was imported by DRDO crowd i.e. KVSS Prasad Rao and M.S.Vijayraghavan .This DRDO culture destroyed NTRO. Now Hon’ble Supreme Court taking a very very serious view of happenings in NTRO , things are expected to move in right direction. Based on  the evidence provided by me , I have reasons to believe that some very very senior functioneries will definately be arrested after Hon’ble Supreme Court goes throught CAG and CVC report on NTRO.

I am now filing four more PILs in Supreme Court throught Sh. Prashant Bhushan  to the issue of corruption in NTRO with all the evidnece . This became essentail since there were many issues which could not be covered in my earlier PIL/SLP in the matter related to NTRO.

I have a request to make . Kindly provide me with evidence ( RTI responses, copies of documents if any and details of cases ) about corruption, misuse of official position , favoritism , nepotism in DRDO and I will file PIL in Delhi High Court against DRDO. This is essential since many of you are already working in DRDO and give3n the poor moral character of officials of DRDO , you may not like to take up the issue with you bosses. As far as as I am concerned , i have nothing to loose and worry about – iIhave faced enough threats of liquidation , arrest etc and I have taken this in my stride . When you challenge this corrupt system , this is bound to happen.

Unfortunately DRDO has escaped attention of the agencies/ institutions  because of  general impression that ‘ they are poor scientists only and not Income Tax , Sales Tax or other public dealing departments”. We have to tell the world that DRDO senior management is as corrupt as any other department.

Please do not worry about the cost . This can be worked out separately in an transparent manner.

Please put this appeal on your web site. The documents can be provided either through you or directly to me at following address

Vinay Kumar Mittal
605, Satpura Apartment
Kaushambi,
Ghaziabad 201010
email-vkm021055@gmail.com 
Mobile – +919811333195
Res- 0102-2776171
 
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Letter from A L S & Admin Asstt.s DRDO HQRs

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Kind Attention: Dr V K Saraswat, SA to RM

                         : Prof. S K Salwan, Chairman Inquiry Committee

                         : Sh Avinash Chander, CCR&D(MSS), Member Inquiry Committee

Letter from A L S & Admin Asstt.s DRDO HQRs

Dear Shri Dandriyal Ji,

Namashkar,

We appreciate your efforts to bring out website relating to DRDO. We congratulate you for good work initiated.

We have also gone through the letters speaking about DOP. This is to bring in your notice that this DOP is very helping to juniors like us. Anybody can meet him and get his difficulties removed.

Certain senior persons like CC’s are not very happy because of his positive attitude towards junior officers. Dr. Neelam Bhalla, Sc. F is also blaming and complaining against him for not getting promotion and also for her transfer done by higher authorities. We came to know that DOP’s daughter has been the gold medalist form Delhi University. Since we are in HQRs and we know DOPs behavior towards us that is why we informed you. Rest you know better what to do.

We will request you to keep the momento so that objective is achieved

With regards,

Yours sincerely

A L S & Admin Asstt.s

DRDO HQRs

The above letter I have received on 4th June by ordinary post.

My friends of ALS & Admin DRDO, thanks for your appreciation and encouragement of my humble effort to improve the work atmosphere of DRDO.

I have been and born and brought in DRDO  environment, I have witnessed the drastic downfall of DRDO working environment. DRDS and DRTC laid down the path of corruption and nepotism. The whole workforce of DRDO turned un-productive by imported NRI’s who were inducted time to time in DRDO main stream.  They simply used their management skills to give direction to HR and technical force to engage in corruption and nepotism, so the One Lakh Corers infrastructure and the mighty Thirty Thousand scientific and Technical manpower may become unproductive and remain busy with day to day survival affairs like rat race of promotions & awards etc.

I am not fighting with any individual of DRDO  official but you people just think if your deserving daughter and son was also an eligible candidate for the Scientist B and Dr Arun Kumar misused his power and did all kind of manipulation to give appointment to his daughter. Because of his act, your son/daughter was deprived to get appointment and then what was your reaction. Please think of other eligible candidates who were more deserving and needier then corrupt Arun Kumar’s daughter.

  1. The sanction list of 129 posts of scientist B was not having stream of Environment Biology.
  2.  Arun Kumar tried to get consent from Director DRDE that environment biology candidate can be adjusted in Biotechnology but the fax massage I have seen that shows negative comments of Director, DRDE.
  3. Then he tried to get same advice from Director DIPAS but he also refused by fax but by pressure he wrote few lines in his own handwriting that with some minor course it can be consider. But it was all fake comments.
  4. You can see the list and marks of eligible candidates they are far better. The screening committee was designed and approved by Arun Kumar.
  5. The Board was design and approved by Arun Kumar and the best part of the board was the faculty of Environmental Biology was the board member. The honorable Supreme Court had already passed the order if the faculty or guide of any candidate is board member the selection of such candidate is invalid.
  6. If you people see the whole process of Arun Kumar’s Daughter’s selection even lay man can sense the manipulations.
  7. If you people check the seniority of Scientist C you will find now Arun Kumar forged the roll and put her daughter qualification as MSc Biotechnology. If everything is fine then what is the reason to forge the seniority role.
  8. The helpfulness of Arun Kumar, I have observed in the case of Dharmender Kumar, but the corruption behind the scene you people not want to see.
  9.  Prof. S K Salwan who is chairman of committee investigating the DOP, Arun Kumar case is made chairman of ‘NAGARATANAM’ project having annual budget of Rs. 80 Lakhs and having monthly salary of Rs. 1 Lakh. He is favoring Arun Kumar with the help of SA to RM
  10. As Arun kumar helped Prof. S K Salwan in getting this job how can he make a impartial inquiry of his case. Other person member of inquiry Avinash Chander was made CCR&D(MSS) so he is also helping him.
  11. The officer V P Pande, Jt. Dir, DOP is given direction by DOP to manipulate the case file of DOP’s daughter, extension file and Dharmender’s case.
  12. Prof. S. K. Salwan is staying at DRDO Guest house at Development Enclave in Delhi Cantt, Where SA to RM is also staying. There Prof. S. K. Salwan is staying along with his mentally retarded only son. His son is taken care by DRDO guest house staff and in return he is helping to dilute the DOP’s daughter case inquiry.

Now my friends of DRDO if you know any above information is wrong then please send me the correct information and advise me and help me to expose the corrupt official of DRDO,  so that DRDO may take a new shape of productive hand of Indian Defence and we will be proud as part of  country’s asset.

Regards

 Prabhu Dayal Dandriyal                                                                                                    21-Sunderwala, Raipur, Dehradun-248008Phone – 2787750, Mobile- 9411114879,         E-mail id prabhudoon@gmail.com ,  prabhu@dandriyal.com Website – www.corruptionindrdo.com

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1.  Defence Minister, Room No -104, South Block, New Delhi – 110011