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CVC report top secret, says Fernandes

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 9 . The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, today ruled out yielding to the Opposition demand for handing over the Central Vigilance Commission's (CVC) report on defence deals to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament. "The report has been labelled as top secret by the CVC and we cannot part with it," he said at a news conference.

Mr. Fernandes declined to go into the merits of the Opposition demand but said it was trying to "politicise" the issue, as was the case over the purchase of coffins during the Kargil conflict. Parliament has been rocked for two days this week with the Opposition demanding that the CVC report, dealing with major defence purchases since 1989, be provided to the PAC which is investigating the emergency purchase of armaments during the Kargil conflict in 1999.

"We have not hidden anything. They want the CVC report. But as far the CVC report is concerned, the Commissioner has written that it is secret. There is nothing more to it," Mr. Fernandes said. In the past too, he noted the Congress had launched a "motivated and sustained campaign on the coffin issue", targeted against him.

Mr. Fernandes said the coffin deal was dealt with in detail in a booklet, which exonerated him. The PAC had taken umbrage to these references and had once considered a privilege motion against its author.

Mr. Fernandes' stand had remained unchanged since January 2002 when the Defence Ministry had indicated that it was in no mood to honour the PAC request. At that time, the Ministry had stated that the CVC report dealt with not only secret documents of the Ministry, but also reports of the Intelligence Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation. "In view of the above, it is humbly submitted that the Ministry is not in a position to supply a copy of the CVC report on defence deals as it would be prejudicial to the interest of the state," said a Defence Ministry letter on January 17, 2002.

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