In the journey of many scams in india one more scam is now in limelight i.e. Agusta-Westland Helicopter deal which estimated
cost of Rs 3600 crore. Former IAF Chief SD Tyagi Accused for taking Bribe in
Chopper Deal.
What is the AgustaWestland chopper deal?
In February 2010, the Congress-led
UPA government had signed a contract with UK-based helicopter manufacturing
company AgustaWestland to purchase 12 AW101 helicopters for the Indian Air
Force for Rs 3,600 crore. These choppers were supposed to be used for flying
the President of India, the Prime Minister, and other such VVIPs. As the
details of India's biggest defence scam after Bofors, AgustaWestland
choppergate is being unearthed and the role of UPA government and former IAF
chief SP Tyagi in the scam is validated by the Italian court.
AgustaWestland was a helicopter design and manufacturing company and wholly owned
subsidiary of Finmeccanica S.p.a. and now Leonardo-Finmeccanica. It was formed in July 2000 as an
Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccanica and GKN merged their respective helicopter
subsidiaries (Agusta and Westland Helicopters) to form AgustaWestland, with each holding a 50%
share. Finmeccanica acquired GKN's stake in AgustaWestland in 2004. From 1
January 2016, the activities of AgustaWestland were merged into Leonardo-Finmeccanica's Helicopter Sector.
Why was the deal dropped?
·
In
Feb 2010 the ruling UPA Govt. signed a contract to purchase 12 AW101 helicopter for Indian airforce for Rs 3546 crore to carry the VIPs like
President of India, PM and others.
·
In
Feb 2013 the Govt. decided to put on hold the deal due to the arrest of
chairman & CEO of Agusta Westland on charges that they bribed
middleman to secure the deal with IAF.
·
In
2014 the congress-led UPA Govt. cancelled the VVIP helicopter deal with Agusta
Westland on ground that the integrity pact was violated and the Govt. has
recovered most of the money paid to the Italian company for the contract.
·
In
this controversy the Ex. PM Manmohan Singh, Former Defense Ministry AK Antony,
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former IAF chief SP Tyagi was put in to
question.
This scam is now on CBI hands let’s see what would happen in the future what is
the inside story of the case Time will tell. Now
CBI and court will clear that what was the role of MR tyagi in this deal. Certainly This would become a political issue. Justice in all cases including in Agusta-Westland
should be complete, not merely meted out to scapegoats.
