New Delhi, Feb 04: Defence Minister George Fernandes today said he felt vindicated by the Phukan Commission having reportedly given him a clean-chit in the Tehelka tapes controversy. Reacting to reports that the commission -- headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice S N Phukan -- had submitted its report to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee earlier in the day clearing him of any wrong-doing, the Defence Minister said it was a victory for truth.

The Phukan Commission, enquiring into the almost three-year-old sting operation carried out by the news portal Tehelka ostensibly to expose the role of middlemen in defence deals, has reportedly given the clean-chit to minister Fernandes who was initially forced to resign following the expose. The Tehelka tapes had shown the then president of his Samata Party, Jaya Jaitley, as having told so-called middlemen seeking defence contracts that they could give donations to her party.

Later, retaken by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his government, Fernandes was boycotted by the Opposition in Parliament -- and the boycott continues even till date.

Lashing out at the opposition, especially the Congress, Fernandes said the Phukan Commission report had finally nailed the canard fostered by the opposition parties. Bureau Report