Kapurthala (Punjab), Mar 16 : The Defence Ministry has taken a serious note of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report censuring Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor allegedly making frivolous purchases when he was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command.

Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju has said the ministry will probe these procurement irregularities at Northern Command stores, and if required, action will be taken against the guilty.

Replying to allegations that at least five army officials, including a brigadier were charge sheeted by police in Jammu and Kashmir for siphoning off kerosene and diesel meant for troops deployed at the Siachen Glacier, Raju said the guilty officials would be brought to book.

He also expressed dismay over the pitiable condition of the local Sainik School which the state government maintains.

Asked to comment on plans to hand over the building and the land to the state government for building a luxury hotel, Raju said the Defence Ministry would take a final call on it.

Earlier, a parliamentary committee had censured General Kapoor and other senior officers for spending huge amounts on purchasing bush cutters and grass cutting machines from emergency funds meant for counter-insurgency and other special operations.

The Comptroller and Auditor General censured General Kapoor and three other army commanders for "wrongly exercising financial powers delegated" to them and spending millions of rupees on non-essential purchases.

The CAG claimed that as the northern army commander in 2005-06, General Kapoor had procured items worth Rs 6.89 crore unrelated to financial requirements for counter-insurgency operations, internal security duties or in defending the 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 took strong exception to the misuse of these funds that were delegated by the Defence Minister under his special financial powers to purchase crucial items for meeting immediate requirements of counter-insurgency and similar other operations.

The CAG also passed strictures against general officers commanding-in-chiefs of the key Western Command and South-Western Command. (ANI)