New Delhi: The CBI is probing the role of the previous NDA government in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal.
In his witness testimony to the CBI, former Goa governor B.V. Wanchoo, who was the SPG chief during the NDA government, informed the agency about a meeting held by top officials of the Prime Minister’s Office in 2003 in which it was decided in principle to have a “realistic operational requirement” after consulting the elite Special Protection Group guarding the Prime Minister, sources said.
This was followed by a letter to the Air Headquarters and the defence ministry in November and December 2003 for a relook at the purchase of VVIP helicopters and encourage competition, sources said, giving details of Mr Wanchoo’s statement.
Former West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan also explained to the CBI officials the rationale behind the decision and cited the fact that his predecessor in the previous NDA government, the late Brajesh Mishra, had decided to lower the service ceiling in December 2003.
“Mr Tyagi took over as the Chief of Air Staff on January 1, 2005. The Air Headquarters agreed to reduce the service ceiling and award the contract to AgustaWestland on March 7, 2005,” sources said.
Investigations established that cousins of the former IAF chief had allegedly received 126,000 euros and 200,000 euros in February 2005, almost a month before the decision to award the contract to the Anglo-Italian defence manufacturer was taken by the IAF.
AgustaWestland had been continuously attempting to enter the competition by making repeated representations to the Indian Air Force since its disqualification in 2002.
