Government sources told ANI on Sunday that the ban has been lifted in dealings with the company with conditions. As per the decision, the investigation against the company by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate would continue.
A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma in a case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
Saini was accused of demanding bribes from Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman, to favour the company during field evaluation trials held in 2010, officials said.
The ED named former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi, his two cousins, lawyer Gautam Khaitan, two Italian middlemen and Finmeccanica in its chargesheet.
With the latest AgustaWestland helicopter import scandal, it is time to re-examine the role of the ubiquitous but ostensibly banned defence agents, middlemen, intermediaries, brokers, consultants, weapon merchants or reps as they are variously known, says Rahul Bedi
At least 12 benchmarks were changed between March and October 2009, including some relating to pilot safety, to reportedly allow PC-7 Mark II, fielded by Swiss company Pilatus, to qualify and win an IAF order worth Rs 3,780 crore for 75 basic trainer aircraft.
The Rs 1,700 crore contract is for 98 Blackshark heavyweight torpedoes for the navy's six Scorpene submarines. Ajai Shukla reports
A country that can launch a 229-tonne rocket with seven international satellites into space does not need to import trucks, howitzers or helicopters, says Claude Arpi, who was present at the PSLV launch in Sriharikota on Monday.
Ajai Shukla gives the inside story of the controversial AW-101 helicopter deal and finds that corruption is endemic to overseas defence deals in India
'We seem to be reliving the sleaziest days of the 1980s,' says T V R Shenoy. 'Defence purchases are made under controversial circumstances, and nobody is held accountable... Shoddy staffwork leads to suspects leaving India, and it is virtually impossible to lay hands on them again once they are out... The same shabby acts of commission and omission. The same stale excuses...'
The government has received the first set of official documents from Italy in connection with the VVIP chopper scam including the warrants issued against former Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi by authorities there.
The documents related to the procurement of the AW-101 helicopters have revealed that the increase in number of seats for VVIPs from two to four and inclusion of the medical evacuation system for the choppers increased the cost of the project by around Rs 300 crore more, IAF sources said in New Delhi.
The payments to AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 choppers have been stopped but so far no decision has been take to blacklist the firm, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
The Indian Air Force is planning to procure more Embraer business jets for its Delhi-based communication Squadron for ferrying VIPs.
The deal to procure 12 VVIP choppers for the IAF is under scanner as an American-Italian person is being investigated for allegedly paying kickbacks for securing the deal for Agusta Westland.
Embattled Anglo-Italian helicopter maker AgustaWestland may face a probe in the UK over its 480 million pounds scandal-hit deal with India for the supply of 12 VVIP choppers.
Orsi was at the helm of AugustaWestland when the deal was struck and he is suspected of involvement in the payment of bribes.
The court asked them to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety of the like amount.
Carlo Valentino Ferdinando Gerosa, 71, an Italian and Swiss national, was believed to be a key player in the bribery scandal as the process of manipulating the specifications for VVIP helicopter deal allegedly started after a meeting between him and cousins of former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi, they said.
Officials said the agency seized a number of documents during the searches from the premises of the firms and entities brought under the action as they were 'connected'.
The ED, in its chargesheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
Others named in the chargesheet include alleged European middlemen in the deal, Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.
A day after terminating the tainted VVIP helicopter deal with AugustaWestland, the defence ministry has set in motion the process of encashing the bank guarantee of nearly Rs 1,700 crore furnished by the Anglo-Italian firm.
They said Rajeev Shamsher Bahadur Saxena wanted in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers money laundering case and lobbyist Deepak Talwar wanted by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case of misusing over Rs 90 crore taken through the foreign funding route, were brought in a special plane to Delhi around 1:30 am.
Rajiv Saxena, an accused in AgustaWestland chopper deal scam, was extradited from Dubai, UAE, to India .
The Central Bureau of Investigation will soon approach United Arab Emirates authorities seeking extradition of British national and alleged middleman Christian Michel James in connection with its probe in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal.
Moving ahead towards scrapping the Rs 3,600 crore controversial chopper deal, Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday said AgustaWestland has "violated the contract" for supplying 12 VVIP choppers for the air force.
Moving ahead towards cancelling the controversial chopper deal, the Defence Ministry on Wednesday said it has issued a final show cause notice to AgustaWestland for "violating" the terms of the Rs 3,600 crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the Air Force.
The Anglo-Italian firm said that the defence ministry had no right to unilaterally suspend the contract for the 12 VVIP choppers. The firm added that it has since April been requesting the ministry to hold discussions on the issue, but there has been no response from the government
He was subjected to a marathon 10-hour questioning on Thursday by ED investigators.
After an Italian court partially lifted the freeze and allowed India to encash bank guarantees worth Rs 1,818 crore deposited by AgustaWestland in the VVIP chopper deal, the defence ministry on Saturday said it will take "immediate steps" to fully recover the amount.
Facing the prospect of cancellation of its Rs 3,600 crore deal to supply 12 VVIP choppers to the IAF, AgustaWestland has sought a meeting with the defence ministry to explain its stand on the issue.
Italian firm Agusta Westland on Monday withdrew its lawsuit from the Delhi High Court filed against India's decision to encash over Rs 250 crore in bank guarantee following the scrapping of the Rs 3600-crore VVIP helicopter deal over bribery allegations.
An Italian court has barred India from encashing bank guarantees worth over Rs 2,360 crore of AgustaWestland as part of the penalties imposed on it after scrapping of the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal.
Michel's counsel appeared with the application before Special Judge Arvind Kumar who issued notice to the probe agency and sought its reply by Saturday when he will take up the matter.
India has encashed a guarantee of over Rs 250 crore deposited by AgustaWestland in a bank in New Delhi even as it is preparing to file an appeal against an Italian court's stay on its move to encash another guarantee deposited in an Italian bank.
The ex-IAF chief was questioned in the same case by CBI for the last three days. This is the first time that the ex-Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate.
India on Wednesday cancelled its Rs 3,600 crore deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland for the supply of 12 VVIP choppers to the Air Force in view of charges that kickbacks to the tune of Rs 360 crore had been paid in it.
Armed with fresh details on the alleged kickbacks, India has initiated steps to cancel the Rs 3,600 crore-chopper deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland by issuing a show cause notice to it in this regard.
Between 2008 and 2015, India purchased defence equipments worth $34 billion, which is a distant second after Saudi Arabia's $93.5 billion, said the report 'Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations 2008-2015' released by Congressional Research Service.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances