Alleged leaking information of submarine program, CBI action after 2 months of investigation

The CBI has filed a chargesheet in the case of leaking commercial information about the procurement and maintenance process of the Navy’s submarine fleet. It includes the names of 6 people, including two serving commanders and two retired officers of the Navy. All of them have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC. The investigating agency has also filed a charge sheet.

The CBI said that the accused were leaking confidential commercial information of the Medium Refit Life Certification or MRLC program of Kilo class submarines of India. According to the report, both the serving commanders used to pass on confidential information to retired naval officers working for foreign companies.

Raids at 19 locations including Delhi, Mumbai
Commander SJ Singh retired this year and then started working for a Korean company. This company is interested in the projects of the Indian Navy. At least 12 people, including a rear admiral, have been questioned in this case. The CBI has so far raided 19 places in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad in this case.

The matter came to the fore after the arrest of naval officers
The matter came to light after the CBI arrested retired naval officers Randeep Singh and SJ Singh on September 3. Shortly after the arrest, during the search of the property of Commodore Randeep Singh (Retd), about Rs 2 crore in cash was recovered.

Based on the investigation, the CBI arrested Commander Ajit Kumar Pandey, posted at the Western Naval Command Headquarters. This was followed by the arrest of another commander working under Commander Pandey, who was posted in the same headquarters.

FIR not made public due to national security
This matter is related to national security. In such a situation, the CBI has not made public the FIR registered on 2 September. Its investigation is going on at the highest level in the CBI. Sources said the investigation so far has made it clear that the information shared is not related to the Navy’s upcoming submarine program Project-75.

Navy marching on blows
The Navy is making a ruckus about this, as the entire Scorpion submarine program was derailed two decades ago by the warroom leak scandal. Due to this the preparations of the Navy came to a standstill. Sources said that the Navy is fully cooperating with the CBI. Some other personnel who came in contact with the arrested officer are also to be questioned.