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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  AgustaWestland deal round-up: Govt assures Rajya Sabha of probe into corruption allegations
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AgustaWestland deal round-up: Govt assures Rajya Sabha of probe into corruption allegations

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar says action will be taken and the House will not be disappointed

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar during the Parliament session in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photo: PTIPremium
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar during the Parliament session in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The Central government on Wednesday gave assurance to the House that the allegations of bribery and corruption in the AgustaWestland chopper deal would be investigated.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, replying to the discussion on the issue in the Rajya Sabha, said that action will be taken and the House will not be disappointed. The minister’s speech was welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Congress found itself politically isolated as opposition leaders demanded that the Central government conduct a time-bound probe in the scam. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government assured the Rajya Sabha that it is investigating the alleged pay-offs in the multi-crore AgustaWestland helicopter scam. The government rejected the idea of a Supreme Court-monitored probe, which was demanded by opposition parties. The Congress also demanded a time-bound probe monitored by the apex court, the non-acceptance of which led to the party’s walkout towards the end of the five-and-half-hour-long discussion. Read more.

Rubbishing the Congress’s claim of having blacklisted AgustaWestland, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said he had as defence minister in June 2014 put the transaction to buy 12 helicopters from the Italian firm on hold and in July barred any future contract with it. Read more.

To know who said what in the five-and-half-hour Rajya Sabha discussion, read here.

The Lok Sabha is likely to have a discussion on the chopper scam on 6 May.

While the deal has sparked up an intense debate between the government and Congress, according to a PTI report, the Italian judge who delivered the verdict on Wednesday said that there was no direct evidence linking any Indian politicians with the alleged kickbacks. He said that there is “possibility or probability but there is no direct evidence".

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), continuing its investigation on Thursday, will question former Air Vice Marshal N.V. Tyagi and advocate and former board member of Aeromatrix Gautam Khaitan. On Wednesday, CBI questioned former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi for the third consecutive day. Read more.

What is the AgustaWestland scam?

In 2010, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government signed a deal with AgustaWestland for the purchase of 12 helicopters to ferry VVIPs. But it was scrapped after reports appeared in Italy that the firm had paid kickbacks to Indian officials to clinch the deal. The process of scrapping the 3,600 crore helicopter deal was initiated in 2013. The Milan Court of Appeals, in its 8 April judgment, said that the contract involved pay-offs to Indian officials and found two executives of AgustaWestland guilty of offering bribes.

Read here why the chopper deal is back in the limelight.

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Published: 05 May 2016, 01:55 PM IST
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