NEW DELHI, Feb 13:
CBI braced to probe the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal as a political storm brewed here today with the scam being billed by the opposition as a second Bofors.
Former Air chief SP Tyagi denied bribery charges and defence minister AK Antony affirmed any one found guilty after the CBI probe would not be spared while opposition dubbed it as second Bofors and sought review of the deal immediately
The government kept the probe ball rolling with CBI sleuths understood to have contacted authorities in Italy where CEO of the
state owned Italian aserospace company Finmeccanica,Giuseppe Orsi, has been arrested on corruption charges.
Speaking to reporters after a function here, Mr Antony said action would be taken against guilty soon after preliminary report of the CBI.
Former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi, whose name has figured in the Italian investigations as one of the beneficiaries, denied the insinuations that bribes were paid to swing a Rs 3,680 crore deal during his tenure for purchasing a dozen helicopters from an Italian firm for transporting VVIPs.
Mr Tyagi, who was the chief of IAF during 2004 and 2007, told a news channel that the decision on the purchase was taken during 2003, thereby indicating that the decision was taken during the previous NDA regime when the Prime Minister’s Office was involved.
However, the Air Chief Marshal denied the insinuation that the requirements in the helicopter were cleared during the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime.
The IAF, he said, could only make its recommendations and not make purchase decision. To the best of his knowledge the IAF had not made recommendations but it was the Special Protection Group which suggested changes in terms of height requirements for ferrying VVIPs. He denied his involvement, saying
that the deal was signed in 2010 while he had already retired in 2007.
The former Air Chief, however, did not deny his blood relation with two of the names figuring among the beneficiaries of huge kickbacks in the Italian probe. “I did talk to them when I came to know their names had come up and they denied any involvement and said they had nothing to do with defence.”
He conceded that there was something wrong somewhere and only an inquiry can reveal who paid whom for what.
Italian investigators arrested head of Finmeccanica in connection with the controversial deal and India ordered a CBI probe into the charges.
Mr Antony said, “the investigations will reveal the details and strongest action would be taken against anybody — Indians or foreigners. Nobody would be spared and the companies involved in supplying the copters would be blacklisted.”
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said Italy had arrested the bribe giver in their country. “This case is very much alike Bofors. The issue had come out a year ago and the Government had not taken any action. Now the question is what will happen to the Indian bribe takers?” he asked.
Terming the alleged irregularities in Italian chopper deal as “a Bofors scam in making”, the Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Congress-led UPA government and asked why the government had not taken any action when there was a probe being conducted into the case in Italy.
Demanding that the government review the about Rs 3,500 crore deal, in which the Defence Ministry has ordered a CBI probe, the BJP said it would raise the issue ‘strongly’ in and outside Parliament.
“Why was the government silent for one year on the issue when reports of irregularities in the deal were coming in media. The BJP had raised the chopper deal issue in Parliament, why was the government silent then?” BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said there was no parallel between the Bofors scam and the current Rs 3600 crore VVIP helicopter deal, and asserted that the government would allow the law to take its course and not do anything under the Opposition pressure.
“Whatever has to be done as per the law should be done. Nothing should be done to please the Opposition or because somebody puts pressure on us,” he said talking to reporters here.
On the Opposition charges that the helicopter deal was a second Bofors, he sought to draw attention to the final conclusion reached by courts in the Bofors case, adding that many of the allegations were not upheld by the courts.
Asked why did India not take initiative to probe the case, Mr Khurshid said India had remained in touch with Italy and expected that they would keep the government here informed at an appropriate stage.
The Defence Ministry here ordered a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam after the head of Finmeccanica was arrested yesterday in Italy.
According to reports, the preliminary inquiry submitted in an Italian court said that Finmeccanica allegedly bribed S P Tyagi when he was chief of the Indian Air Force to clinch the deal in favour of the company.
Amid these developments, Congress senior leader Divijay Singh lambasted the opposition for indulging in mud-slinging against the
government even before the investigations into the charges and said “no one can be hanged without proper probe in charges.”
Mr Ravshankar Prasad said the deal raises a ‘serious’ question.
“There was Ottavio Quattrochhi from Italy who was involved in the Bofors scam. Several attempts were made to protect him. This helicopter company is also from Italy. Was this a factor in no probe being done in the matter for the past one year?” he asked.
The BJP leader accused Mr Antony of making false statements about the VVIP chopper deal in Parliament.
“Rs 3500 crore were not government’s money but it were tax payers’ money. Why was the Defence Minister silent for one year? Why did the Defence Minister give false statement on the deal in Parliament?” he said.
“I see the making of a second Bofors in this scam. The government has not been able to explain why it was silent for one year on this issue despite the details being available in the public domain,” Mr Prasad said.
The BJP demanded that the Rs 3,500 crore deal be reviewed and the supply of the remaining nine of the 12 choppers be stopped till the issue is probed thoroughly.
Furthering his attack on the Congress, Mr Prasad said scams were being uncovered in every department of the UPA government.
“Why there is a loot in every department? Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, please explain why is there a scam in every department of government, whether telecom or coal. I want to ask the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi what kind of India are they trying to build with so many scams?” Mr Prasad, the BJP Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, said.
(UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel