The Ministry of Defence is under the scanner again, this time for the Embraer jet deal. Of course, this deal was done during the United Progressive Alliance government, so there’s no aspersions cast on the current defence ministry, but this does raise serious questions as to whether proper procedure is being followed in big money deals.
Embraer, a Brazilian aircraft company, is alleged to have paid bribes to secure deals in Saudi Arabia and India. They did this by involving a UK-based middleman in a deal to provide three Embraer aircraft to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This happened in 2008. Apparently, the company was on US radar from 2010, when concerns were raised after a deal with the Dominican Republic. Now India will have to seek information from the company, after which the DRDO will need to conduct a proper investigation.
It was not too long ago that the Augusta-Westland case, another UPA signing, made the news, this too for involving middlemen. India prohibits the involvement of middlemen in deals that have to do with defence procurement, so these are serious allegations indeed. But, will there ever be a proper positive outcome in these cases? All eyes are now on the DRDO.
