The Government’s move to blacklist AgustaWestland company in connection with bribery allegations in the VVIP helicopter deal will not take place in near future following Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran’s advise against any immediate action.
The contract with AgustaWestland was cancelled in January this year.
Following legal advise, the government has now referred the issue to the CBI which is carrying legal proceedings against Agusta, an Anglo-Italian firm part of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica. It was alleged that Agusta paid Rs 360 crore as bribe to bag the Rs 3,600 crore deal for 12 helicopters for ferrying VVIPs by the IAF.
Officials said here on Monday, the law Officer asked the defence ministry to wait before going ahead with blacklisting Agusta and the issue was then referred to the CBI. The defence ministry had sought Solicitor General’s opinion about blacklisting days after cancelling the deal, they added. Agusta, however, continues to maintain that it had not committed any wrong and strictly went by Defence Procurement Procedure(DPP).
Meanwhile, the arbitration process is yet to begin between the defence ministry and Agusta as they have not agreed upon the third member of the arbitration panel. Agusta nominated former Supreme Court judge Justice (retired) BN Srikrishna and the Defence Ministry has nominated former Justice Jeevan Reddy.
In another development, CBI is planning to record the statement of Goa Governor B V Wanchoo “as a witness” in connection with its probe in the VVIP helicopter purchase deal.
CBI sources said here it was necessary to question Wanchoo, who was chief of Special Protection Group (SPG) guarding the Prime Minister before he was appointed as Governor of Goa. They said Wanchoo had participated in a meeting in 2005 that allowed key changes in the technical specifications of the helicopter.
The agency has put the investigation in this case on a fast track and questioned several bureaucrats including former Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi and Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) Shashikant Sharma who was the then Defence Secretary.
CBI claims the parameters regarding the height at which the helicopters can fly as also the flight evaluation were changed in a manner that enabled Agusta to clinch the deal vis-a-vis its competitor Sikorsky.