BJP, govt clash on army chief’s fund misuse row

IANS/New Delhi

The government yesterday said it will take further action on an internal report on the misuse of secret service funds by former army chief General V K  Singh after “careful examination” even as the BJP said the officer was being “hounded” for sharing the dais with Narendra Modi.

As media reports quoted an army inquiry on Gen. Singh misusing secret funds to destablise the Jammu and Kashmir government among others, the defence ministry, which was initially reticent on the matter, came out with a terse four-para statement.

Predictably, a slugfest ensued between the Congress and the BJP on the issue, with the main opposition party terming it political vendetta and the Congress denying it.

The Left chose to stay silent.

In its statement, the defence minister said : “The government has received a report from the army HQ on certain issues relating to one of its outfits as reported by a section of the media.

“The report impinges on matters of national security and, as such, the government will take a decision and further actions after a careful examination of the report.” the statement said, adding: “The government has in place measures to prevent any such undesirable activities.”

The statement also clarified that the ministry “has not taken any decision for a CBI inquiry into the issues raised in the army’s report”.

The media report was based on an inquiry by a board of officers into the functioning of the Technical Services Division (TSD) of the Corps of Military Intelligence during Gen. Singh’s tenure. The report had called for bringing the TDS under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) scanner, the media report added.

According to the newspaper report, Gen. Singh had also paid off an NGO to try and change the line of succession in the army top brass.

On their part, people close to Gen. Singh said he was exploring the legal route on this issue. Lt. General (retd.) Raj Kadiyan termed the issue as “personal vendetta” against the former army chief. Speaking for reporters, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said reports of misuse of secret service funds by Gen. Singh, are “under the active consideration of the government” and appropriate action would be initiated against the guilty.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said: “He is being hounded because he was seen seated beside Narendra Modi at the Rewari rally. The Congress has been misusing CBI and setting wrong precedents. There is already trust deficit and it should stop using hounding tactics,” she said.