New Delhi, March 15::A Parliamentary Committee has censured Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor and other senior officers for spending huge amounts on frivolous purchases like bush-cutters and grass cutting machines from funds allocated for emergency use in counter-insurgency and other special operations.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has censured General Kapoor and three other Army Commanders for ‘wrongly exercising financial powers delegated’ to them and spending huge funds running into crores of rupees on non-essential purchases.

In a scathing censure of General Kapoor, the CAG said the Army Chief, as the Northern Army Commander in 2005-06, had procured items worth Rs 6.89 crore which were not related to urgent requirements of counter-insurgency operations, internal security duties or in defending Siachen glacier.

"Most of the items purchased were only to facilitate day-to-day routine duties of the Army and these were issued to forces which were not actively engaged in anti-militancy operations," the report said.

The CAG has taken strong exception as these funds had been delegated by the Defence Minister under special financial powers to purchase crucial items for meeting immediate requirements of counter-insurgency and similar other operations.

The CAG has also passed strictures against General Officers Commanding-in-Chief of key Western Command and South-Western Command.

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