Court to probe into national research organisation Rs800 crore scam

Flabbergasted at the Centre’s inertia in concealing yet another scandal in the protected National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) that deals with various high-tech defence equipment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a status report and a one-man inquiry report that established the grave charge of massive meddling with the public money by the security agency under the PMO.

During a brief hearing in a law suit filed by a whistleblower VK Mittal, who resigned as a senior scientist of NTRO and perused initiatives to unmask the officers behind the Rs800-crore scandals, the apex court also issued notices to the Central Vigilance Commission, Comptroller and Accountant General (CAG) and NTRO.

Expressing its dissatisfaction over the manner in which the Delhi high court disposed of Mittal’s law suit ‘which is very crucial and important’, a bench of Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik have given one month to solicitor general Rohington Nariman to submit the inquiry report and the status report in a sealed cover.

NTRO was created by the Central government in 2004 under Prime Minister Office to deal with missile monitoring, satellite and airborne imagery, cyber patrolling and security, cyber offensive operations, communication support systems and cryptology.

Mittal’s petition argued by Jayant Bhushan, the son of Shanti Bhushan, said that the NTRO since the financial year 2005 has been allotted about Rs8,000 crore. Since the agency describes itself as the `secret service’, its accounts have been without any detailed CAG audit.

Out of total funding, 25% or Rs2,000 crore, is said to be Secret Service Fund (SSF) of which there is no accounting.
In response to a RTI query, the Director General of Audit said a government memorandum stipulates that “the accounts of secret service expenditure will not be subjected to scrutiny by the audit authority”.

Bhushan said the public money, though used for the national security service, couldn’t be left for misappropriation.

Mittal’s law suit said the inquiries conducted in NTRO transactions, established that almost all the allegations levelled by him on corruption, irregularities in procurement of equipment and recruitments have been found to be correct. All the efforts have been made by the government “to suppress these inquire reports”.

It was national security adviser Shiv Sankar Menon who had ordered an inquiry into corruption in the NTRO.