After several rounds of questioning, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested former Air Force Chief, SP Tyagi, his cousin Sanjeev, and a lawyer in the sensational Rs 450 crore bribery case for the procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters from a UK based firm Agusta Westland during the UPA-2 government. Air Chief Marchal Tyagi who retired in 2007 was called for questioning at CBI Headquarters along with his cousin and Chandigarh-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who were taken into custody after nearly four hours of grilling. These are the first arrests in the case by CBI which came three years after it registered an FIR in 2013 to probe the allegations following details of the scam emerging in Italy where the prosecutors levelled allegations of corruption in the deal against the chief of Finmeccanica, the parent company of Agusta Westland. Ironically, SP Tyagi was also a member of The National Security Advisory Board in 2010-12 during the UPA regime.
CBI spokesperson, Devpreet Singh has stated that in 2005 the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) had entered into criminal conspiracy with other accused persons and agreed to change the IAF’s consistent stand that service ceiling of VVIP Helicopters of 6000 meters was imperative for smooth operational necessity and reduced the same to 4500 meters instead. This change in Operational Requirements (ORs) made it eligible for the UK based company Agusta Westland to participate in the Request for Proposal for VVIP Helicopters. The CBI found that undue favours were shown to Agusta Westland in lieu of illegal gratification from the vendors through middlemen who included Tyagi’s cousin and an advocate who accepted the bribe for exercising influence through illegal means and using their personal influence over the Air Chief at the time.
Over the last three years Tyagi and his cousin have denied having taken any bribes to influence the deal. Air Chief Marshal Tyagi even stated that the change of specifications, which allowed Agusta Westland to participate in the bid was a collective decision in which senior officers of Indian Air Force, SPG and other departments were involved. While the investigation into this deal continues, questions cannot but be raised about the airworthiness of India’s air defence installations and equipments if high ranking defence officials are lacking in integrity.