No reprieve to blacklisted defence firms till CBI probe report
New Delhi: Taking a strong stand against
corruption, the Defence Ministry has decided that the fate of
deals with seven blacklisted firms in the case involving
former Ordnance Factor Board chief Sudipto Gosh would be
decided only after the CBI probe "clears them of all charges."
The government had blacklisted seven firms, including
Israeli Military Industries and Singapore Technologies in May
this year, putting on hold all tenders and contracts after
they were named in the FIR filed by CBI in the corruption case
against Gosh in Kolkata.
In effect, the Defence Ministry has ruled out leniency
to any tainted firm even if the acquisition plans of the armed
forces, be it ultra light howtizers or ammunition for Bofors
artillery guns, would be badly affected, through its latest
order.
Defence Ministry officials today said that after they
wrote to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Law
and Justice Ministry this July, its decision to blacklist the
firms were further refined to take care of all stages of
acquisitions that these companies were involved in, thus
modifying its earlier orders issued in May and September this
year.
The other blacklisted companies are BVT of Poland,
Singapore-based Media Architects, Bangalore-based HYT
Engineering, Delhi-based T S Kishan and Company, and
Ludhiana-based R K Machine Tools.
Bureau Report