'If the navy was part of the ministry of defence then, of course, the defence minister would have been jointly responsible for everything that happened. But that is not so.

"The defence minister can shrug his shoulders and say, 'Look I don't know what is going on in the navy, so let the chief handle it'.

''The politician is free to do what he feels. If his conscience hurts him, he is welcome to quit,' former naval chief Admiral Arun Prakash tells Rediff.com. Read