New Delhi: After more than one and half years of probe into the Rs 1150-crore Barak missile deal with Israel, the CBI questioned former defence minister George Fernandes twice recently on alleged irregularities in purchase of the weapons system in the year 2000. Highly-placed sources in the investigating agency said Fernandes, who was in the Cabinet during NDA government, was quizzed by a team of CBI officials at his 3-Krishna Menon Marg official residence on two occasions regarding alleged irregularities in the purchase of seven Barak Missile Systems.

He was asked why the deal of purchase of Barak Missile Systems was pushed despite reservations expressed by the then Cabinet Committee on Security and why the advice of the then Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, who had objected to the purchase of the missiles, was not presented before the CCS.

Fernandes is understood to have told the sleuths that he had pressed for the deal at the earliest following a strong recommendation made by the then naval chief Admiral Susheel Kumar who is named in CBI's FIR registered in 2006.

However, Fernandes claimed he had forgotten about the reservation's expressed by the then Scientific Advisor A P J Abdul Kalam, according to the sources.

Efforts to reach Fernandes for his comments failed.

Besides Fernandes and Kumar, the CBI has named the chief of defunct Samata Party Jaya Jaitely and other officials of Defence Ministry besides noted arms dealer Suresh Nanda in the FIR relating to the case.

The CBI would be questioning Admiral Kumar again. He was earlier quizzed on March 4, 2008. (PTI)