The PMO is looking into allegations of manipulation of Defence deals during the erstwhile UPA regime particularly relating to the proposed procurement of anti-tank guided missile for the Army.
The move comes after the PMO received an anonymous letter recently citing lobbies that worked during the UPA regime seeking to make Rafael of Israel as a single vendor for supply of its Spike anti-tank guided missiles.
The letter alleged that the technology offered with the Spike missiles is not of the latest variety and that its trials were not satisfactory.
It further alleged that trials were carried out in a manipulated environment during the UPA regime. “To cover up the shortcomings, a technical scan was ordered which cleared procurement of Spike of Rafael on the plea that there is no other system available,” the letter claimed.
The letter goes on to further claim that once the authorities verify the facts on record relating to the case, the procurement cannot go through in its present form.
Even during the UPA regime, the proposal was shelved twice at the eleventh hour before the matter was to be taken up by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). While the then Defence Minister AK Antony had instructed to drop the case on the plea that it required deeper study, the then Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh had also withdrew the case from the agenda of the DAC at a later occasion, the letter added.