Fresh affidavit in Kargil case

After the controversy over the virtual clean chit to former Defence Minister George Fernandes in the Kargil arms purchase scam, the Centre today filed a second affidavit in the Supreme Court saying it had decided to refer 20 more arms deals to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for fresh probe.

"The government is committed to taking strict action against officials/authorities, including the former defence minister, if it is found that the excuse of Kargil war was taken to make the purchases with a motive of personal benefit in violation of rules and regulations," the defence ministry affidavit said.

Referring to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General, which went into 123 purchase deals during and after the Kargil war and found irregularities in 35 of them causing an alleged loss of Rs 2,000 crore to exchequer, the government said of these 35 purchases, 20 were being referred to the CBI for a detailed probe.