New Delhi, Feb. 1 :    New Delhi, Feb. 1:  The ghost of the Kargil coffin scam threatens to loom over the budget session beginning at the end of this month, thanks to defence minister George Fernandes' overdrive. In the wake of the December 13 attack on Parliament, the A.B. Vajpayee government had managed to bury the controversy that had stalled House proceedings for a few days with Opposition parties demanding Fernandes' ouster. But the defence minister resurrected the row, writing to all MPs on January 23 and asking them to consider what action needed to be taken on the 150 aluminium caskets already purchased. Fernandes also sent a booklet, which had 'a one-point agenda to malign the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor-General)'. The letter and booklet provoked CPM leaders Somnath Chatterjee and Nilotpal Basu to shoot off a letter to Vajpayee today, saying 'Fernandes' continuance in the Cabinet has become further untenable'. They plan to take up the issue with other Opposition parties. The booklet, The Whole Truth About Aluminium Casket, written by R.V. Pandit, a senior journalist close to Fernandes, attacks the CAG, which had unearthed the coffin scam, and a newspaper for writing about it. Pandit had even organised a press conference last week to exonerate the defence ministry. The CPM leaders' letter to Vajpayee said Fernandes' act 'constitutes a major affront to the functioning of Parliament itself' and demanded immediate action 'commensurate with the gravity of the misdemeanour'. It is the 'exclusive prerogative of the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) to deal with the CAG report' on the caskets, it said. Chatterjee accused Fernandes of 'open violation of all norms and conventions by sponsoring the author to launch a frontal attack on the CAG and approvingly forwarding the book with a view to join in the campaign against a high constitutional authority'. The revival of the coffin scam controversy comes close on the heels of Fernandes' refusal to make available the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report on defence deals signed from 1989 to the PAC on the ground that it went against national interest. This had kicked up another row with the Congress and the Left parties accusing Fernandes of trying to hide some explosive findings. Fernandes today defended his decision, saying that when the chief vigilance commissioner submitted the report, he said 'it should be treated as top secret'. 'CVC reports are not distributed. So we have a debate which is not rooted in reality,' the defence minister added.