The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Chhattisgarh Government to produce the original file related to purchase of AgustaWestland helicopters used for VIPs in order to rule out the possibility of any fraud or irregularity as alleged in the deal by a NGO — Swaraj Abhiyan.
Dealing with the PIl represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan alleging corruption in the purchase of these helicopters by the State Government in 20016-07, the Bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and UU lalit said, "We only want to see whether there was any fraud or hanky panky. That is why we want to see the files. If you wish to file affidavit, keep it ready and keep the files also ready."
Bhushan had alleged that preference was given to Agusta overlooking the file noting by the then Chief Secretary recommending to invite tenders from other manufacturers who were willing to offer the same deal at a lesser price. The petition further alleged that the beneficiary in this deal was Chief Minister Raman Singh's son and demanded inquiry into the foreign bank accounts linked to him.
The Bench asked senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani representing Chhattisgarh, "The civil aviation secretary says Agusta. The chief secretary says not only Agusta, go beyond Agusta. Why Chief Secretary's note was overshadowed laterIJ" The bench even made some searching enquiry as to when the decision was taken to choose Agusta, abandoning an open tender. Jethmalani assured the Court to seek instructions in this regard and file a short affidavit. The matter will be taken up on November 23.
Bhushan informed the Court that a global tender was issued only for Agusta and the chopper purchased for a price of over five million USD. In this deal, a commission of over one million dollars was given as illegal gratification to firms linked with CM's son, he alleged. When the Court sought proof to establish that Chhattisgarh paid a huge price for purchase of choppers, Bhushan cited the example of Jharkhand which purchased the same helicopter cheaper.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, who appeared for the Centre objected to the manner in which sensitive and confidential Government documents such as file notings, investigation reports, etc were being leaked out which is a matter of grave concern. The Bench said it will examine this issue too in the course of deciding this case.