New Delhi, February 17
In the first secret interim report, the Tehelka Commission of Inquiry headed by Mr Justice S N Phukan has suggested that a sitting Supreme Court judge should examine all defence files since Independence, it is learnt.

Concerned about rampant corruption in defence purchases allegedly involving Army personnel, he is believed to have underlined that a Supreme Court judge should be ably assisted by the Central Vigilance Commission and the CBI.

Mr Justice Phukan has stressed the need for transparency to fight corruption as defence deals have become murkier. The report is stated to be corrective in nature with the specific intent of improving the existing system of defence procurement.

The report was submitted by him to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on February 4. Considering the sensitivity of the report, Mr Vajpayee constituted a committee headed by National Security Adviser and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Brajesh Mishra to study it. Other members of the committee are Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad and representatives of the ministries of Expenditure, Law and Personnel.

Even though the commission has examined 15 defence deals including the AJT, Sukhoi, Barak missiles, T-90 tanks, tank navigation systems, simulators, hand-held thermal imagers, Karl Gustav rocket and Kandla-Panipat pipeline, the report believes there is a strong case for examining all defence purchases since independence.

As the report, running into more than 500 pages, dwelves on the security and defence aspects of the country, Mr Justice Phukan has numbered and authenticated every page so that it is not tampered with. He has also taken adequate precautions with his staff so that they did not reveal the contents of the report.

After submitting his first report to the Prime Minister, he had told mediapersons he could not divulge anything and that “it is within the purview of the government to make it public.”