Saturday, April 13, 2013

[rti4empowerment] Fw: BARAK CONTROVERSY 2006 - HOW R T I Act SHOWED C B I 's FIR WAS FALSE [1 Attachment]

 
[Attachment(s) from Anil kumar included below]

The attachment content is reproduced below
With regards,
Anil 
98458 13345
Bengluru

--- On Wed, 4/3/13, Dipak M Karnik <dipakmkarnik@yahoo.co.in> wrote:

What is more frightening is the failure of the Trishul Project. Recently the DRDO declared this missile fully operational without the Air Force ever getting its hands on it. We really live in frightening times. Dancing girls being appointed service chiefs is a guaranteed recipe to disaster.
 
Could someone please throw some light on this issue!
 
Am   sending   you  an  ATTACHMENT  .   Kindly   circulate  it   please ,   as  it  could  be   of  help  to  some  who  may  be  placed   in  the  type  of  dilemma  I  faced   in  2006  when  the   Navy  and   I    were  needlessly  dragged  into  a  POLITICALLY  MOTIVATED  controversy .
 
I  went  through  a  traumatic  experience as  I  found  myself    stranded  between  the  Official  Secrets  Act  (  and  just  could  not  speak  out  )  and  on  the  other   hand  was  the  DRDO  hiding   the  skeleton  (  of  the  failed  TRISHUL  project )    in   its  cupboard   as   its   Patron in Chief   was  then  sitting  in  Rashtrapati  Bhavan .
 
Finally  I  took  recourse  to  the   R T I  Act   and  after  three  years  of  persistence  my  efforts  paid  off  and  I  turned  the  tables  on  the  Government  . The  headlines   in  the   print   media  said  it  all  -  FORMER   NAVY  CHIEF  SLAMS  THE  GOVT   WITH   RTI  ACT  FOR    FALSE  F I R  .
 
Fond   Regards -   Sushil   &  Venita
 
ADMIRAL SUSHIL KUMAR
 
Indian Navy   (Retd)
 
Mob: +91 9810632250
 

Admiral   Sushil    Kumar    Former   C N S                                

 

                                 " BARAK"   CONTROVERSY                                                                                                                                                           HOW    R T I   ACT  SHOWED    CBI's  FIR   WAS  FALSE

 

The   media   reported   how   I   used  the  R T I  Act   to    show  that  the   CBI   had    fabricated    the   BARAK   controversy  of  2006 .  This  is  how  it  happened .                                                                                             

When   CBI   filed  an   FIR    ( in  Oct  2006  )   it   tagged   my  name   along  with   Ex  RM  George  Fernandes   .   It   related  to   a   Navy  --  DRDO   face  off   during  the   Kargil   war   1999 ,  over   the  Navy's   war  fighting   requirement  for  Anti  -  Missile  Defence  ( AMD )   -   a   highly   sensitive  issue ,   squarely   in    the   domain  of  the   Official   Secrets   Act  .

CBI  alleged   that  it  was   collusion    between  the  Navy  , MOD    and   Cabinet  ,   that   "  set  aside "   DRDO's  claim   that   its   TRISHUL  AMD systems   from  its  Top  Secret  project  were    ready   and   instead  the    Government    approved   Israeli   BARAK   systems   for   the  Navy  .                                            What   CBI   omitted  was    that   BARAK   had   always  been  the  official   policy   as    DRDO's    TRISHUL    was  a   failed  experiment   since   1983 .

Injecting   the  Official  Secrets   Act    seemed   a   clever   foil   but     the       serving    Navy  Chief  Admiral  Arun    Prakash    instantly    slammed  the  Government    for   dragging   the   Navy   into   a  political   scuffle  .  

 When   all   attempts  to  reach  out  to  the   Prime  Minister   proved    futile   ,  I   took  recourse    to   the   R T I   Act   to   establish   that   the   FIR   filed  by   the  CBI  was  patently  false.       

My    R T I   experience   was  an   eye  opener  and   needs  to  be  shared ,  as  it  could  help   others  in  circumstances  similar  to  my  dilemma .  

From   day   one  ,  MOD   bluntly   quoted  the    Official   Secrets   Act  ;  confident   that   no  one  would   dare  unlock   the   skeleton     in    DRDO's   cupboard   ,   with   its    high  constitutional  immunity .                                                                                         

Finally,    after   three   years   of   disappointment ,   my  RTI  efforts  took  a  miraculous    turn    when  the   Central    Information  Commission   took  note  of   my   appeal   and   Shri   Satyananda    Mishra     issued  an   ultimatum  on  16  Apr  2009  ,    directing    MOD  to  reply  to  my  query .      

The   reply  of  MOD  and  DRDO   signed   by   Joint   Secy    Preeti    Sudan  and   Maj  General  Umang  Kapoor    was   frank  and   forthright   :    DRDO's  Trishul  AMD  system  NEVER  existed   as   the  project  was  only   a  Technology  Demonstrator  and  so  BARAK  was  the  Govt  policy .       

 

This   information   provided   by   the   Government   effectively    put  paid  to  the  CBI's  allegations .  And   if  it  had  not  been   for  the   RTI  Act  ,  I   would   not  have  been  able  to  prove  it.                                                                 

Having   vindicated   my   stand    as    CNS  during  the  Kargil  conflict   ,  I  met  the  Raksha  Mantri    Shri  A K  Antony   on  4  Feb  2010     and    acknowledged    his  role  in    scrapping       DRDO's    TRISHUL  project     to  put  an  end   to   this   charade .                                               

And   this  was  my   humble   advice   for    the   Hon'ble    Minister    :        

  "  A   military   chief   must  be   free  to  sincerely   advise    the  Government   on  operational   matters  ,  without  fear  that  his   recommendation  may  later  be  twisted  and   '  politicised   ' by  the  next  Government   -  as   happened   to  me   in  Oct   2006 "

 

                           THIS    CASE     IS     NOW   "  UNCLASSIFIED  "

 

      Admiral   Sushil   Kumar    Indian  Navy  (  Retd )

       Flat  E  -  3   ,  Sector   21  ,  Jal vayu  Vihar

      NOIDA  ,   U . P   201301         TEL   9810632250"


 
 

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