While the CBI has sought more time from the court to ascertain the nature of information leaked by Singh, here are some of the key cases that Singh has highlighted. From alleged violations in procurement to wasting money on an emblem that was never used, these examples, Singh writes, underline the need for accountability in the agency.

Purchase of VHF/UHF antenna

Singh refers to an order in 2002 with a German firm for 27 antennae covering frequencies from 30-3,000 MHz. These were at a price of Rs 15.5 lakh apiece when approvals were for prices ranging from Rs 2.5-Rs 5.5 lakh. Singh claims companies were selling similar equipment in the open market for less than Rs 15,000.

Singh writes he recommended a re-tender and inclusion of an Indian company that had promised to supply the same equipment at one-tenth of the price sought by the foreign company. In August 2003, the foreign firm threatened legal action. The recommendation for a re-tender was not accepted. The agency scaled down its requirement from 27 to nine antennae but the company protested.

“When I left RAW in June 2004, the case was still hanging fire. However, I have learnt that all 27 were eventually purchased,” Singh writes. The deal, he alleges in the book, “could not have happened without the active support of officers of the Telecom Division of RAW and the Purchase Cell in the Cabinet Secretariat.” Had RAW been under statutory audit, Singh writes, this expenditure would have “been the subject of a Parliamentary question.”

The emblem that never was

Raw spent lakhs of rupees, Singh claims, to have an emblem designed at the suggestion of a senior officer. “A specialist designer was commissioned with the project of creating a suitable logo. The new emblem was inaugurated at a grand function held in the auditorium where an assortment of objects bearing the new crest were displayed. Of course, this was the last time we were to see the emblem. Due to security reasons, it could not be used on letter-heads and neither could we use it on our vehicles or on attire.” Some “diehards,” Singh writes, “bought a few crested whiskey glasses and dinner plates but these could also be used only in the presence of colleagues.” At the end, it turned out to be a “futile exercise, after spending lakhs of rupees, most of it towards the cost of design.”

The VSAT Project

A chapter in the book deals with the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network Singh proposed in 2001 for secure voice and high-speed connections between RAW headquarters and important destinations. The plan was cleared and bids received from 14 companies, including one from the private sector about whom doubts were cast on the grounds of security. “After I left RAW, I came to know that the contract had been awarded to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a public sector undertaking,” he writes. But there was “tremendous opposition” to the project from within the Telecom Division. Doubts were expressed about the wisdom of going in for the VSAT system, with objections ranging from cost to the nature of technology being used.

The book refers to an official who was “instrumental in purchasing the desktop encryptor” that was used by senior officers before VSAT was put in place. This had been procured from a foreign vendor at an “astronomical price”, without inviting tenders and using secret funds. Its “security grading was suspect”, the book says.

Singh writes that the opposition to the VSAT project could have been because “certain people” wanted the existing system to continue and that “the total lack of secrecy” must have been to the liking of foreign intelligence agencies. “Were there some moles among us?” he asks.

Canteen for RAW officials

Raw had used ex-servicemen employed in the agency as a “subterfuge” to get a canteen — that also stocked liquor - for its own personnel who were not entitled to such facilities.

The initial application for the CSD (Canteen and Stores Department) canteen was based on the premise that there were many ex-servicemen in the agency who found it inconvenient to go to the Station Canteen where they were exempted from paying sales tax on goods purchased.

“I found that instead of catering exclusively to ex-servicemen, the canteen was open to all employees.” Singh writes that he was apprehensive that once RAW got a canteen, other security agencies and paramilitary forces would make similar demands. But his fears were overruled. Singh wrote to the GOC Delhi Area, seeking prevention of misuse and audit of the canteen but nothing happened.

“With its penchant for getting around rules, I am sure RAW would have found a way to continue the canteen,” Singh writes.