Union Minister for Defence AK Antony has declared that the contract for the supply of 12 VVIP helicopters to India from AugustaWestland stands cancelled. Mr Antony's tenor was to suggest that no probe is any longer necessary in the alleged corruption in the case.
Should we not know how the company clinched the deal and who are the people close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi who pushed the dealIJ If everything is fair, why did the Italian police arrest an alleged bribe-giver in the deal for violation of the integrity clauseIJ Why did Christian Michel, the consultant, suggest names of Mr Ahmed Patel and Prime Minister Singh, for winning over Ms GandhiIJ
Termination of the contract does not remove the taint in respect of this defence deal. In the case of Devas International and Antrix, for the lease of spectrum, no money transaction took place, at least no evidence of that surfaced. Yet, some senior scientists were booked.