PTI
New Delhi, Oct 10: The Tehelka ghost returned on Tuesday to haunt former Defence Minister George Fernandes when CBI filed a corruption case against him, the then Naval chief Admiral Sushil Kumar and Jaya Jaitley, who was accused of receiving a bribe of Rs two crore in the Rs 1,150 crore Barak Missile deal with an Israeli firm in 2000.
After conducting raids in the premises six defence dealers in 35 places in the national capital, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Sangrur in Punjab, the agency announced the registration of an FIR against the three, besides Samata Party treasurer R K Jain, arms dealer Suresh Nanda and unnamed officials of Defence Ministry and Isareli firm -- Israel Aircraft Industries limited.
Without taking anybody's name, the CBI spokesman told reporters that the then defence minister, the then Naval Chief and the then President of a political party (Jaya Jaitley, Samata Party President), who functioned from the residence of the Minister, were named in the FIR as accused. He said Rs two crore was allegedly paid to Jaitley at his official residence.
The agency alleged that the contract for seven Barak Anti-Missile Defence (AMD) Systems and 200 missiles was signed in October 2000 with the Israeli firm despite opposition from Defence Reasearch and Development Organisation (DRDO) because of the availability or feasibility of the indigenous 'Trishul' system for adaptation to Navy.