2005: Scorpene submarine scam
T
he Scorpene deal scam involves Rs. 500 crore bribe, alleged to have been paid to government decision makers by Thales, the makers of the Scorpene submarine. The amount was channelled via middlemen, such as Abhishek Verma and Ravi Shankaran, a relative of the then chief of navy staff Arun Prakash. Both were accused in the Navy War Room spy scandal.
In February 2006, the CBI for initiated criminal proceedings against the naval officers and civilians allegedly involved. After preliminary investigations, the CBI told the Delhi High Court that it found no evidence of kickback in the submarine deal.
In October 2005, India and France signed a deal worth Rs 16,000-crore for Scorpene submarines.
In 2007, Prashant Bhushan of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed a petition with the Delhi High Court to investigate whether there had been kickbacks in the Scorpene submarine deal.
Abhishek Verma was alleged to have sent an e-mail to the French manufacturer of the submarine demanding, on behalf of the Congress, four percent commission to broker the deal.
The High Court took a strong line with the investigating agency, saying “We feel dissatisfied with what you’ve done so far. If you’ve tried to shield someone, then we will come down very heavily on you”.
21