UPA’s Augusta probe manipulated by “invisible hand”: Parrikar

By: Rajneesh M.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday alleged an invisible hand was guiding the UPA government’s probe into the controversial AgustaWestland chopper deal amidst accusations by the Italian judge of non-cooperation by the UPA government in India in the scam probe.

In an interview to a TV channel, Italian judge Marco Maria Maiga, who convicted Finmeccanica officials in the VVIP chopper scam, accused the then government in India of not cooperating with the probe. The UPA government had shared only three insignificant documents – that too after much delay, the judge said.

”Italian authorities and prosecutors asked Indian officials to send all documents since the first deal in 2002, but we received only three documents. These documents contained information which was already collected by the Italian investigators,” the judge said.

Maiga also confirmed that former IAF chief S P Tyagi and his cousins – Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep Tyagi – had received kickbacks.

On Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha took up the controversial AgustaWestland chopper deal for discussion when the ruling BJP and opposition Congress Party slugged it out for over five hours.

The Congress alleged that the BJP and its defence minister Manohar Parrikar were out to malign the image of their political opponents (viz, the Gandhis) by levelling baseless allegations against them.

Parrikar, however, said the CBI investigation will bring out the truth on the issue.

Congress members then walked out of the House, saying that the minister did not heed to their demand that the investigation be monitored by the Supreme Court.

Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu countered by asking: ”Why didn’t they (the Congress) ask the Supreme Court to monitor the probe? It was the UPA that had asked the CBI to investigate the matter.”

Parrikar said the investigating agencies will take the Italian Court’s ruling on the issue seriously.

”The central matter is that of corrupt practices. Hence the main action required is to trace, detect and unmask the means of these corrupt practices and bribery through a thorough enquiry by the investigating agencies. Given this background, this enquiry will of necessity focus on the roles of those named in the judgment of the Italian court.

It appears an ”invisible hand” was guiding the action or inaction of CBI and ED,” said parrikar.

The Italian court, according to reports, has named Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi and his family members in the verdict.

Former defence minister AK Antony while replying to the accusations, said he had objected to the deal and consented only after the Air Force demanded more VVIP choppers.

Antony also claimed that the investigation into the matter was started by him. ”You have to speed up the process. Don’t blackmail or threaten people,” he said and urged the centre to quickly complete the probe.

The judge’s comment, however, counters Congress claims that the UPA government had sped up the probe and extended full cooperation to the investigators.

Maiga also confirmed that middleman Guido Haschke’s handwritten note, which provides details of political leaders, Indian defence officials and bureaucrats was authentic.

The judge also said the hypothesis of the prosecutors was that ”AP” stood for Ahmed Patel. He also said ”Italian authorities had some indication of political involvement and there is enough evidence to launch a probe.”

The footnote to Italian court judgment page number 163 also observed what the judge said.

Making an emotional response, Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said he had entered public life not to indulge in corruption. ”If anyone proves any wrongdoing by me, I will quit public life and the Rajya Sabha. There should be a thorough investigation carried out into this deal and the guilty should be punished. Bring the truth out… I repeat again, if you can find an iota of truth against me, I will quit public life and resign from this House,” he said.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav, who initiated the discussion, said, ”One of the countries has taken action against the people who had paid bribes; we should take action against the people who took them, no matter which political party they belong to.”

Quoting the Italian judgment, BJP’s Subramanian Swamy said that a bribe of €30 million was paid, out of which €6 million went to IAF personnel, €8.4 million to bureaucrats and Rs125 crore to one ‘AP’ in the deal.

Meanwhile, the then Air Force chief Tyagi was questioned for the third consecutive day about his alleged role in the Rs3,600-crore helicopter scam and his links with Finmeccanica officials.

Apart from Tyagi, former board member of Aeromatrix Gautam Khaitan was grilled for eight hours. Khaitan admitted to setting up IDS Tunisia, a subsidiary of IDS India.

The company was one among the many through which the bribe was allegedly routed by the middlemen from the Italian company to other countries. The focus of the questioning was Khaitan’s alleged links with Italian middlemen – Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschkhe, sources said.

Emaar MGF boss Shravan Gupta’s name cropped up after it was found that Haschke was a director of the realty major between September and December 2009. ED found bribes had been routed to Tyagi cousin and Khaitan’s firms.