AgustaWestland deal: SP Tyagi travelled to Italy 3 times

IAF ex-chief called to CBI HQ again today; sleuths summon his cousins too.

New Delhi:

Former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief SP Tyagi, who was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday in connection with the Rs 3,726-crore VVIP chopper scam, allegedly travelled to Italy three times after his retirement.

Sources said the CBI sleuths asked him pointed questions on the source of funding behind his post-retirement trip to Italy, among other questions. Sources said they had details of ACM Tyagi’s trip to Florence, Venice and Milan in Italy after he retired in 2007. They said a probe was on who had accompanied him on the trip and who had paid for the hospitality.

Sources said that Tyagi, who is a suspect in the case, was extensively examined by CBI sleuths for nearly 10 hours at the agency’s headquarters near Lodhi Road. He arrived at the CBI headquarters at around 10 am but refused to speak to the media, that posed questions about his role in the alleged corruption in the deal.

The former Air Chief has been asked to appear before the agency on Tuesday as well. The CBI has also summoned Gautam Khaitan, former board member of Aeromatrix, one of the suspects in the case, for questioning on Wednesday. Three of the former Air Chief’s cousins — Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep — have also been called later this week.

Sources claimed ACM Tyagi was also confronted with responses received from Italy on the CBI’s judicial requests. He is also learnt to have been asked about the statements of middlemen Carlos Gerosa and Guido Hashke to the Italian authorities. They had claimed to have met ACM Tyagi on several occasions between 2004 and 2007.

ACM Tyagi denied the allegations against him, claiming innocence, and saying the change of specifications, which brought AgustaWestland into contention, was a collective decision in which senior officers of the Indian Air Force, SPG, NSA and other departments were involved. Sources said the investigations had revealed that just two months after taking charge as Chief of Air Staff, ACM Tyagi had on March 7, 2005 allegedly agreed to reduce the mandatory service ceiling of VVIP helicopters from 6,000 meters to 4,500 metres, reversing the IAF’s earlier stand, under which a change in the service ceiling was “non-negotiable”.

Investigations further established that the cousins of the former IAF Chief had allegedly received 126,000 euros and 200,000 euros in 2005 routed through Tunisia and Mauritius. “The CBI is now scrutinising bank account details of S.P. Tygai and his cousins,” a source said.

In April 2004, Air Headquarters had determined that AugustaWestland was not an option for VVIP helicopters due to its failure to meet the service ceiling requirement, a source added. ACM Tyagi took over as Chief of Air Staff on January 1, 2005. Air Headquarters agreed to reduce the service ceiling and give AugustaWestland the contract on March 7, 2005, sources said.

The Milan court of appeals, equivalent of an Indian high court, has given details of how alleged bribes were paid by helicopter-maker Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland to Indian officials through middlemen to clinch the deal. The order reportedly mentioned the name of ACM Tyagi at several points. The CBI had registered a case against him along with 13 others, including his cousins and some European middlemen.

Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday accused the Congress of trying to divert attention from the AgustaWestland scam by raising “unnecessary” issues in the House after the Opposition party demanded a discussion on a CAG report on the KG Basin project. “The Congress wants to divert the people’s attention from the Augusta helicopter scam, so they raise unnecessary issues in Parliament,” Mr Naidu said outside Parliament on Monday.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Kirit Somaiya had already alleged that the main commission agent in the helicopter deal, Christian Michel, had strong Congress connections. Michel’s “connection” was a legacy of his late father (Wolfgang Max Michel Richard) and his proximity to the Congress Party, Mr Somaiya alleged.