NSP weapons are issued to the army personnel for their personal use from ordnance depots.
As if the scams relating to the Adarsh housing society at Mumbai, golf course land deals, and substandard ration for jawans aren’t enough, the Indian army appears to be caught in another scandal over the illegal sale of “non-service pattern” weapons and releasing licenses to dubious persons.
NSP weapons are issued to the army personnel for their personal use from ordnance depots.
“It seems that we are heading for another racket,” the Supreme Court observed on Friday as it slammed the defence ministry for being ineffective in dealing with this scandal, which surfaced four years ago after a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by Arvind Sharma, an advocate, who sought a probe into the trafficking of weapons and wanted all the civilian and military brass involved in the fraud to be punished.
Defence ministry’s lawyer Vivek K Tankha said a status report on the issue would be submitted to the court within six weeks. A bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar, which is also hearing the black money scandal case, has also sought report on the probe against three IAS officers for their alleged involvement in the NSP weapons’ scam.
“We are really shocked and surprised that the issue did not draw serious attention from the Centre and the state government,” the judges observed.
In 2007, authorities in Rajasthan’s Ganganagar district noticed that several licenses had been issued to dubious persons, including terrorists, smugglers, and rowdy elements by the local authorities without verification.
Later, the government revealed that several army officers , including some holding the rank of major generals, IAS officers, and those belonging to the Rajasthan state service, were allegedly involved in the sale of NSP arms to these dubious elements.
The state government identified about 284 beneficiaries of this sell-off.
Last year, the army admitted that 72 officers, including a serving colonel and three lieutenant colonels, posted in the sensitive border districts of Rajasthan and at the Indian Army Training Team (IMTRAT) in Bhutan, were a part of an illegal arms selling racket.
Defence minister AK Antony has told Parliament that disciplinary proceedings were initiated against 30 officers and a junior commissioned officer for failing to deposit their NSP weapons.
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