CBI arrested the three for facilitating the supply of substandard non-skid chains to the Army worth Rs 1.58 crore in 2006 Three Army officers were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation-Anti Corruption Bureau (CBI-ACB) on Wednesday for facilitating the supply of substandard non-skid chains to the Army worth Rs 1.58 crore in 2006. Jaywantrao Yadavrao Pawar,A Prabhakaran and Fayazoddin were produced before the district court where they were remanded to police custody for two days. Pawar is the deputy director general (administration),directorate general of quality assurance,Ministry of Defence in New Delhi,Prabhakaran is joint controller of quality assurance,heavy vehicles in Chennai and Fayazoddin retired as group officer,vehicle quality assurance wing in Pune. Subash Chandra Gupta,additional superintendent of police,CBI-ACB said,In December 2007,the CBI registered a case against five accused including Pawar,the then officiating controller of quality assurance,Ahmednagar on allegations of supply of substandard non-skid chains by Sunil Sharma,co-accused in the case,to the Indian army. Anti-skid chains are used in Army vehicles in snow-bound high altitude areas and are a critical item for operational purposes. Any failure in performance of these chains may result in loss of human life and equipment belonging to the Army. Investigations have revealed that Pawar entered into a criminal conspiracy with other accused and cheated the Indian Army and the Ministry of Defence. Pawar was responsible for issue of quality assurance instructions along with the relevant drawings to the supplier for manufacturing the pilot samples and issue of authorisation for inspecting officer based at Aundh in Pune. He was also supposed to carry out revaluation of the samples and issue of bulk production clearance certificate to the supplier. Special public prosecutor Anil Kankariya argued that Pawar had issued registration certificate to Sharma Enterprises for 110 items despite adverse recommendation from a brigadier attached to the Mumbai office of quality assurance department. He also approved bulk production clearance in favour of the supplier despite adverse remarks about six pilot samples made by assistant foreman AP Nevaskar. Kankariya pointed out how Prabhakaran,the then in-charge of vehicle quality assurance wing,Aundh and Fayazoddin,the then junior officer of vehicle quality assurance wing,Aundh entered into a conspiracy with the other accused facilitating the procurement of substandard non-skid chains. Advocate Pratap Pardeshi,defence counsel for the accused said there has been a three-year delay from the prosecution side in pursuing the case and hence there is no need to remand the accused to police custody as the accused would be present at the CBI office as and when summoned. However,special judge Arvind Rohee remanded the accused to two days police custody. It may be recalled that the city court had recently granted anticipatory bail to the proprietor of Sharma Enterprises,who is accused of supplying substandard non-skid chains. His lawyer SK Jain had alleged that the case was a fallout of business rivalry.
