CBI files charge sheet against Former Indian Defense secretary, Ex-IAF Chiefs in AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam
The Rs. 3,6000 crore scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from an Italian firm.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday has filed a supplementary charge sheet against former CAG and former Defense Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and several retired Air Force officers in the 2010 AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case.
According to reports, the investigative body has received prosecution sanctions against Shashi Kant Sharma, who was joint secretary in the Defence Ministry when the Rs 3,600 crore contract was discussed.
Back in 1999, the IAF had floated a tender for the acquisition of 12 VVIP choppers to ferry top government dignitaries.
The need for new helicopters to ferry VVIPs — the president, the prime minister, the vice president and the defence minister — was felt when the proposal was moved to find an alternative to the IAF’s Soviet-era Mi8s.
The Rs 3,600 crore contract was given to AugustaWestland in 2010.
After the contract was awarded to the Italian firm, allegations erupt that technical specifications were tweaked to help the company qualify and win the bid, for which bribes were allegedly paid.
There were reported that the service ceiling of the helicopter was lowered from 6,000 m to 4,500 m.
In March 2013, the CBI filed an FIR after a preliminary inquiry. The FIR named Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Tyagi and 12 others as accused, apart from four companies.
These individuals included members of the Tyagi family and three middlemen — Michel, Gerosa and Haschke. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) too began investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency has affirmed that Michel’s organizations got around 42.27 million Euros, approximately seven percent of the arrangement sum, from the organizations to swing the Rs 3,600-crore deal in their favour.
The bribes were purportedly directed through organizations of Michel and an advocate, Gautam Khaitan, as various agreements through layered exchanges to disguise them.
The first charge sheet for the case was documented in September 2017 naming previous IAF chief Tyagi and others. It was trailed by another charge sheet in September 2020 against Michel and others.
