Why BJP wants Sonia Gandhi's head in AgustaWestland scam
After the National Herald controversy, the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam threatens to directly affect Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other senior party leaders. On April 27, the Rajya Sabha witnessed pandemonium when newly appointed nominated member Subramanian Swamy rose to speak on the issue. The House had to be adjourned twice – first when the Congress vehemently protested Swamy uttering Sonia’s name and next time when the main opposition party members continued with their protests. The issue is likely to rage in the days to come.
Here are some important points related to the whole scam:
What is AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam?
August 1999 - IAF realised that Mi-8 VIP helicopters needed to be replaced as they were nearing their total technical life, were unsafe to operate at night and could not fly beyond an elevation of 2,000 meters in areas like Siachen and the Tiger Hill.
February 2010 - Ruling Congress-led UPA government entered into a deal with United Kingdom-based AgustaWestland to purchase 12 AW101 helicopters for Rs 3,600 crore for the Indian Air Force (IAF), to carry the President, PM and other VVIPs.
February 2013 - Chairman of Finmeccanica - the Italian state-owned defence company of AgustaWestland is a subsidiary - Giuseppe Orsi and chief executive office (CEO) of AgustaWestland, Bruno Spagnolini, arrested on charges that they bribed middlemen to secure the deal with IAF. The UPA government decided to put on hold the deal following the arrest.
January 2014 – The UPA government cancelled the contract with AgustaWestland on grounds that the integrity pact was violated. However, the then opposition BJP alleged defence kickacks in the deal and questioned the role of then PM Manmohan Singh, former defence minister AK Antony, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former IAF chief SP Tyagi. A case was registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Tyagi and 12 others, including his cousins, for alleged cheating, corruption and criminal conspiracy in the deal, in which Rs 360 crore is alleged to have been paid as kickbacks.
CBI alleged in its FIR that middleman Guido Haschke, through his Tunisia-based company, Gordian Services Sarl, entered into several contracts with AgustaWestland from 2004-05 onwards and "almost on a back-to-back basis he also made consultancy contracts with the Tyagi brothers". Haschke is accused of sending Euro 1.26 lakh (about Rs 1.06 crore) and Euro 2 lakh (about Rs.1.68 crore) to the Tyagi brothers.
Role of SP Tyagi
AgustaWestland's A-101 had failed to fulfil the criterion as it could not reach 18,000 feet. It could fly lower to around 3,000 feet of the requirement.
Air Chief Marshal Tyagi was accused of having tweaked with the altitude requirements in favour of AgustaWestland to win the deal. He "conceded to reduce" the altitude requirements, hence, bringing AgustaWestland back into the reckoning.
Why is it in the news now?
April 25 - An Italian court, in its judgment, convicted Orsi and said the firm had paid bribes to top Congress leaders in India and lobbied with them to bag the Rs 3,600-crore deal.
Citing the handwritten notes seized from middlemen, the judgment says the political leaders accepted commission of 15 to 16 million Euros (Around Rs 120 to 125 crore) in the controversial purchase of the 12 VVIP choppers. The judgment states how the firm lobbied with Sonia and her close aides besides then NSA MK Narayanan and then PM Manmohan Singh.
Why is Sonia Gandhi’s name being dragged into the scam?
The Italian court’s order exposes the Congress’ role in pushing the deal and blames the erstwhile UPA Government for not cooperating with the Italian probe team. The other notes, part of the judgment, seized from the middlemen, say Sonia is the “driving force” behind this deal. Sonia’s name figures four times in the judgment.
Sonia’s name is mentioned in page 193 and 204 of the judgment, convicting Orsi and other officials of Finmeccania, the firm which manufactured AgustaWestland VVIP choppers. Orsi and other officials were convicted for four-and-half years.
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A letter dated March 15, 2008, seized by investigators, shows main middleman Christian Michel, who is still a fugitive, having written to Peter Hulett, the then India sales head of the chopper company, that Sonia is the main driving force behind this deal and she will no longer fly in the existing MI- 8 choppers. The letter was quoted verbatim in the judgment, detailing lobbying and corruption of Congress leadership. It says, the then British High Commissioner in India should target top Congress leadership for the clinching the deal.
“Dear Peter, since Sonia Gandhi is the driving force behind VIP will no longer fly in the MI-8. Gandhi and her closest advisers are the people who the British ambassador should target,” said the letter of Michel seized by the probe team. This letter was seized from the home of arrested middlemen Guido Haschke in early 2013.
The judgment also says Haschke had in the court identified all the Congress leaders, when their photos were shown to him during the trial by the Italian prosecution.
Page 9 of the judgment also affixed the handwritten note of Michel exchanged with Haschke on how to distribute the total commission of 30 million Euros. Air Force officials were allotted six million Euros and bureaucracy, including Defence Ministry officials, was allotted 8.4 million Euros.
The note says political leaders closely connected to Sonia Gandhi were to be allotted 15 to 16 million Euros. The note also shows sharing of commission with "family" and the judgment says it was meant for the family of then Air Force chief Tyagi.
Page No 163 and 164 name Manmohan Singh and details that Orsi used Italian leadership and diplomats to contact the then prime minister to scuttle the probe by non-cooperation from the Indian government’s side. In Page 163, the judgment produces a handwritten note by Orsi from jail in July 2013 asking his people to contact then Italian Prime Minister Monti or Ambassador Teracciano to call Manmohan Singh.
The 225-page judgment of the appeal court in Milan also annexed several documents, including handwritten notes exchanged between the middlemen about the deal stating how the total commission of 30 million Euros (Rs 250 crore) was given to India’s political leaders, bureaucrats and Air Force officials.
What next?
The BJP will try its best to corner the Congress and particularly its president and derive maximum political mileage out of it. With Swamy becoming a member of the Rajya Sabha, that effort has already begun in right earnest. Swamy is a known Sonia-baiter. He has already dragged Sonia and her son Rahul Gandhi to court over the National Herald case. He will not allow the first family of the Congress to heave a sigh of relief now that he has got an opportunity to put them in the dock again, now in the AgustaWestland scam. Tough days for the Congress ahead.
(With inputs from agencies.)