NEW DELHI, 5 May 2005 — The Phukan Commission, which had probed the Tehekla website’s expose of alleged irregularities in arms deals, was not entitled to travel in military aircraft, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee informed the Parliament yesterday.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), a major supporter of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), had on Tuesday asked the government to inquire if there had been a violation of guidelines on use of air force aircraft by the Phukan Commission chairman and members.
CPM leader Basudeb Acharya had alleged that even lawyers associated with the commission were taken on a “junket” to Pune, Ahmednagar, Shirdi and Bombay by air force aircraft and helicopter ostensibly to familiarize them with weapon systems.
News magazine Outlook reported last week that retired Judge S.N. Phukan, who headed the commission, had traveled with his wife in 2003 to several military bases in Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft and visited the town of Shirdi after flying to Ahmednagar.
The report led to allegations from lawmakers of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) that then Defense Minister George Fernandes had sought to influence the commission by allowing it to use military aircraft.
Pranab told the Lok Sabha Wednesday that only the president, vice-president and prime minister were entitled to fly in aircraft of the IAF’s VIP squadron. The ministers for defense, home affairs, chiefs of the army, navy and air force, and defense secretary were among a select group of officials and ministers allowed to use the VIP aircraft only for “essential” trips and only if aircraft were available.
Making a suo moto statement in the house, Pranab said: “Normally for visits of a commission, IAF aircraft are not provided.” The previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government set up the commission after Tehelka made public its sting operation into defense deals in March 2001.
After probing 14 deals to purchase military hardware ranging from Russian-made T-90 tanks and Su-30 jets to binoculars, Phukan submitted an interim report that exonerated Fernandes.
The UPA government wound up the commission last year before it could present its final report. — Additional input from IANS.
