Indian Express: New Delhi: Monday, September 23, 2013.
Continuing its attack on the government for the
report of a secret Army panel on the controversial functioning of a military
intelligence unit that was set up by former Army chief V K Singh, BJP president
Rajnath Singh Sunday said the UPA has been deliberately “troubling eminent
personalities who want to join BJP”.
The BJP
president, who was speaking on the sidelines of a function in the Capital in
which former Bihar chief minister Satish Prasad Singh joined the party, refused
to comment on whether the former Army chief is joining the party but raised
questions on the Army inquiry against the doings of the secret spy unit.
“Whatever V K Singh has said is correct. Why was
no inquiry held against him when he was in service. Why are they getting into
holding investigations one year after his retirement and that too soon after he
shared the dais with Narendra Modi,” Rajnath Singh said.
Meanwhile, a counsel for the former Army chief has
been reported as saying that V K Singh will file a petition under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act to get a copy of the report into the functioning of the
Technical Support Division (TSD). As reported by The Indian Express, the
findings of a panel led by Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia has found several discrepancies,
including a reference to paying money to a Kashmir politician to destabilise
the state government. Other charges that have come up are misusing of funds to
purchase interception equipment and funding of an NGO that was working against
the then Eastern Army Commander Bikram Singh.
V K Singh’s counsel Vishwajeet Singh has been
quoted as saying that an RTI application on the matter would be moved on
Monday.
“We have come to this conclusion that the only way
to establish the truth regarding this report and regarding the activities which
are being questioned now is to see the copy of the report. So we are planning
to move an RTI application tomorrow itself asking for a copy of that report
submitted by Lt Gen Bhatia and also inspection of the records,” Vishwajeet
Singh has been quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
However, there is little chance that the RTI
application would be responded to by the Defence Ministry, given its track
record on sharing any kind of information on security matters as well as issues
relating to the armed forces.
In its reaction to The Indian Express report on
the TSD probe panel’s findings, the ministry has said the report “impinges on
matters of national security and, as such, the government will take a decision
and further actions after a careful examination”.
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