SC agrees to hear plea on Agusta scam

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea for probe into alleged irregularities and payment of kickbacks in purchase of AgustaWestland VVIP choppers by Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh.
A bench of justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan issued notice to the Centre on a PIL seeking CBI/SIT probe in the alleged irregularities. The petition was filed by Swaraj Abhiyan alleging that huge kickbacks were paid in the deals.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench that 30% of the cost of the chopper was paid as commission during the purchase by Raman Singh’s Chhatisgarh government. He told the bench that around the time of the purchase, Raman Singh’s son allegedly opened bank accounts in the tax haven of British Virgin Islands.
Bhushan also sought an inquiry into his alleged offshore accounts. Referring to other states, he contended that CAG in its report had clearly pointed out the opaque manner in which the helicopters were purchased by the state governments and the matter needed to be examined by CBI/SIT.
“It is clear from the CAG reports that the companies were always in direct contact with the governments through their agents and representative and were themselves submitting proposals from time to time in absence of any formal proposal for purchase by the states. Such practice clearly brings out the corruption of governments to the fore and complete connivance and lobbying with the companies,” he said.