Standing Committee on Defence wants Army officer's 'cooling off' period increased

New Delhi: Alarmed at the recent reports of senior retired officers of the armed forces acting as agents of arms manufacturing companies, the Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence has said that the "cooling off" period for officers of the rank of Brigadiers and above (equivalent of the other three services) be increased to five years instead of the current arrangement.

The waiting period was reduced to one year from the earlier arrangement of two years. "The Committee are of the strong view that the aforesaid period need to be increased to five years for the officers of the rank of Brigadier and above which would certainly help in addressing the issue of blacklisting of technologies," the Committee headed by Congress' Satpal Maharaj said in its report tabled in Parliament today.

The observation of the committee came in the wake of the recent controversy involving retired Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh, who is alleged to have offered to pay a bribe of Rs 14 crore to Army Chief General VK Singh to get an order for 700 Tatra trucks for the Army and the blacklisting of six companies by the Ministry of Defence found to be involved in illegal activities.

Many analysts however argue that this measure, if implemented, would be of little use, since most officers who start liaisioning for defence companies are not on the payrolls of the manufacturers; thereby making it difficult for investigators to establish any link in case of any wrong doing.

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The Standing Committee has, however, observed that the blacklisting of the companies has created a difficult situation.

"The Committee observes that the blacklisting of companies ultimately results into blacklisting of the rarest technology and solution in this regard needs to be found." The committee suggested that investigations against blacklisted companies should be expedited.

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