AgustaWestland, the UK based company which was issued showcause notice by India in connection with the VVIP helicopter scandal, has asked New Delhi to release its payments claiming that withholding it was a breach of contract.
The UK based company had signed a contract worth over Rs 3,600 crore to supply 12 VVIP helicopters to IAF and delivered three platforms when India issued a showcause notice in March as to why the contract should not be cancelled following allegations of kickbacks worth over Rs 362 crore paid to bag the deal.
In a letter written recently to the Ministries of Defence, Finance and External Affairs, AgustaWestland said there were certain ‘contractual difficulties’ with the Defence Ministry and asked for its payments to be released.
Indiahas paid around 30 per cent of payments and withheld the remaining after the Italian investigators arrested former CEOs of Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland for allegedly paying Rs 362 crore as kickbacks. AgustaWestland said till proven guilty, no one can be held guilty and investigations were still on in Italy and India in the case.