Former Air Chief SP Tyagi on Wednesday became the first high-ranking Air Force officer to face the ignominy of a Central Bureau of Investigation questioning.
Tyagi and his cousins were subjected to marathon questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials in connection with their alleged role in the `3,700 crore VVIP chopper deal.
While Tyagi spent four hours answering questioning about changes made in the specifications of the choppers and his meetings with European middlemen, his cousins Juli and Rajeev were grilled about their association with European arms lobbyist Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.
During questioning by the sleuths, Tyagi is learnt to have denied allegations of receiving kickbacks from middlemen and claimed that due procedures were followed in the deal.
The former Air Force Chief was also confronted with his cousins Juli and Docsa.
Sources said the former IAF boss was quizzed about changes made in the tender specifications, particularly with regard to bringing down the operational ceiling from 18,000 to 15,000 feet, a change that allowed AgustaWestland to enter the fray.
Italian prosecutors have alleged that the operational ceiling was tinkered with by the then IAF Chief at the behest of his cousins and the middlemen.
Tyagi was also questioned about the Italian prosecutor’s report that claimed that the former Air Chief’s cousins managed to introduce a comparative flight trial with non-functional engine. This change in specification enabled AgustaWestland to swing the deal in its favour as its helicopters were the only ones with three engines.
Italian investigators have alleged that Gerosa and Haschke bribed Tyagis to swing the deal for procurement of 12 AW101 helicopters from AgustaWestland.
On Tuesday the CBI had questioned the CEO of Aeromatrix Pravin Bakshi and executives of Chandigarh-based IDS Infotech. The two companies allegedly routed the bribe money to Indians in the garb of bogus engineering contracts.
According to the 64-page probe report of the Italian prosecutor, Gerosa and Haschke had close liaisons with Tyagi’s family including his cousins- Juli, Rajeev and Sandeep.
The Defence Ministry had ordered a CBI probe on February 12 after the then CEO of Italian aerospace giant Finmeccanica Giuseppe Orsi was arrested by the authorities there on charges of paying bribes to the tune of Rs 362 crore for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland. A part of the bribe money is alleged to have been paid to Tyagi brothers.