Indefensible Defence - Implosion: India's Tryst with Reality - page 235

minister appointed after the 2014 general election should make a difference, and Naren-
dra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, has talked about strengthening India's de-
fences and opening up manufacturing to the private sector, especially in Gujarat. But who-
ever has the next stab at reforms will find that the defence establishment is adept at stymie-
ing changes.
Defence Graft
Corruption on India's defence deals is as old as the country's independence. Historians
point to the army jeep scandal in 1948 as the first example. It involved V.K. Krishna Men-
on, India's high commissioner in London, who later became ambassador to the United
Nations and Nehru's powerful defence minister. While he was the high commissioner, he
organised a Rs 80 lakh contract with a UK company for 2,000 reconditioned jeeps, but
only 155 were delivered. Menon was also involved in similar failed contracts for rifles and
American B25 Mitchell bombers. 57 Official inquiries on the jeeps criticized the contract,
which became highly controversial, but the government unilaterally closed the case in 1955
and Menon became a cabinet minister the following year.
The payment of bribes was dramatically revealed in 2001 when Tehelka (then a news
website) ran a sting that filmed Bangaru Laxman, who was the BJP president, accepting
Rs 1 lakh in cash as a kickback. 58 Others, including senior army officers, were also caught
on film in the sting, which was called Operation West End after the name of a fictitious
London-based company seeking sales for its thermal imaging binoculars . Laxman was
jailed for four years in 2012 when he was 72, but was released on bail. 59 This was a rare
case of a conviction for defence corruption - it has been the only one successfully achieved
by the CBI out of 22 defence cases in eight years. 60
Bribes and extortion are now an integral part of a self-serving and highly corrupt system
where money is paid at all levels from a few hundred rupees to defence ministry clerks for
moving files (or delaying those of competitors) to millions of dollars paid to politicians and
officials responsible for placing large defence orders. There are various points in the pur-
chasing procedure at which corruption kicks in. When specifications are being drawn up,
companies try to influence the choice of technologies and the wording of requirements so
as to better their prospects and eliminate competitors. The next points are when companies
are being selected for inclusion in formal requests for information, proposals and tenders,
and then the conduct and reporting on field trials. That is followed by final shortlists and
examination of technical and financial bids and the eventual award of the contract.
The largest, well-established companies do not usually have to pay bribes at the initial
stages, though newcomers and smaller businesses do often need to persuade officers around