Embarrassed by a series of scams allegedly involving army officers, Army Chief General V K Singh said he was mulling putting in place a vigilance mechanism that will help the force carry out internal audits.
"One of the things we could have done better is to create some sort of a vigilance mechanism within the army. At the moment we do not have this. We are looking at it very seriously," Singh told a press conference in New Delhi.
The general said a vigilance mechanism would assist the army in carrying out "internal audits at the right time". The image of the armed forces has been hit due to alleged involvement of its officers in a number scams, including the the Sukhna land scam in Darjeeling and the Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai, in which a finger of suspicion being raised at
"Let me assure you that today we have been taking suo motu action on a lot of issues that happen," he said. On the involvement of former army chief, Singh said the army has handed over the matter to the defence ministry as it does not have the necessary tools to hold an inquiry into such issues.
"As the issue relates to a former army chief and some senior officers who have since retired, we have handed over the matter to the defence ministry for action," Singh said. He said the army does not want to waste its time on these matters as it does not have to powers to conduct an inquiry against retired army officers. "We do not have the tools to check bank accounts and issues like that. Hence, we have handed over the matter to the defence ministry for action," the general said.
