The CBI on Saturday questioned former deputy chief of Indian Air Force JS Gujral in connection with alleged irregularities in the now scrapped Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland.
The agency has also summoned former IAF Chief SP Tyagi for questioning on Monday. Tyagi’s cousins will also be subjected to a fresh round of questioning in the wake of the Milan Court of Appeals order.
Air Marshal (Retd) Gujral arrived at the CBI headquarters here in the morning and appeared before the investigation team probing the case and was questioned for several hours. Gujral was one of the many senior officials who were part of the meeting in August 2005 when a decision to alter the required specifications of the choppers was taken.
Both were questioned at length in 2013 but the fresh round of questioning was necessitated after the April 7 order of an Italian court in which Tyagi’s name and several other Indian politicians and bureaucrats appeared as the beneficiary of the VVIP chopper deal.
CBI has so far maintained that Gujral was questioned as a witness but remained tight lipped if he will still retain the same status. Maintaining that Gujral was cooperating during the questioning on Saturday, agency sources said he will be called again soon.
The agency had registered a case against former IAF Chief Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen in the case.
Tyagi has, however, denied the allegations saying he was not the sole authority to take any final decision.
The allegation against the former Air Chief was that he had reduced operational ceiling of the helicopter from the required altitude of 6,000 m to 4,500 m (15,000ft) so that AgustaWestland was included in the bidding process.
However, the decision was taken in consultation with the officials of SPG (BV Wanchoo) and the Prime Minister’s Office including then NSA MK Narayanan. The CBI had earlier questioned them in connection with its probe into the case and may question them afresh in the light of the recent developments, sources said.
The sources said the decision could have been vetted at multiple levels to evade prosecution.
CBI has alleged that reduction of the service ceiling — maximum altitude at which a helicopter can operate — allowed the UK-based firm to get into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters were not even qualified for submission of the bids.