New Delhi, July 29 - The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) will conduct a special audit of the procurement contracts signed during the tenure of former chairman of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Sudipto Ghosh, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on corruption charges, parliament was informed Wednesday.

'The Ministry of Defence has requested Comptroller and Auditor General to conduct a special audit of procurement contracts concluded during the tenure of former Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board,' Minister of State for Defence M.M Pallam Raju said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The premier investigating agency has arrested Ghosh on charges of demanding and accepting bribes, for criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The names of seven international and Indian firms figure in the first information report (FIR) the CBI has filed.

Following the FIR, the seven firms - Israeli Military Industries, Singapore Technology, BVT Poland and Media Architects Pvt. Ltd of Singapore, and three Indian companies: T.S. Kishan and Co. Pvt. Ltd., R.K. Machine Tools and HYT Engineering Co - were blacklisted.

The dealings with the companies were 'temporarily put on hold' by a June 5 order. The defence ministry then sought advice from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the law ministry on further dealings with these seven companies.