The upcoming Budget Session of Parliament is set to be stormy with BJP on Monday announcing that it would raise issues like the VVIP chopper deal and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remarks on saffron terror.
Arriving in New Delhi within days of exposure of the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopters scam involving Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland, British Prime Minister David Cameron is likely to be pressed for more information in this regard during his meetings with the leadership on Tuesday.
An Italian court, hearing the VVIP chopper deal scam case, has rejected India's request for documents related to the investigations into the matter, arguing that the "information is covered by secrecy".
Former Finmeccanica Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Orsi has denied knowing the family of Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi in the ongoing investigations in Italy into the alleged payment of kickbacks of Rs 362 crore for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to India.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said that all procedures were followed by the United Progressive Alliance government in the controversial VVIP chopper deal. "I don't think it is right to politicise the issue. It is a matter of national interest. All procedures were strictly followed by the government," he told n journalists accompanying him on a two-day visit to Bangladesh.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday registered a complaint given by the defence ministry to probe alleged kickbacks paid by an Italian firm to clear the Rs 3,600 crore deal for VVIP helicopters.
Under fire over allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, government on Wednesday asserted that nobody found guilty will be spared and if wrongdoings were found by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the contract can be scrapped.
Agency sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday that "certain bank accounts of all the Indian accused" named in the FIR have been frozen by CBI.
Aeromatrix Info Solutions private limited, an accused firm in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal scam, has moved a Delhi court seeking defreezing of its bank account for paying salaries to its employees.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has decided to communicate with MPs and VVIPs through e-mail to reduce time and improve efficiency.\n\n\n\n
Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday admitted that "somebody has taken money" in the AgustaWestland chopper deal that is mired by bribery allegations.As the Central Bureau of Investigation probes the bribery allegations into the controversial Rs 3,600 crore deal for the supply of VVIP choppers by the Anglo-Italian firm, Antony vowed that no mercy would be shown to anyone who has taken bribes. It is alleged that the deal involved Rs 362 crore in kickbacks.
Shah said the 'friendship' between Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal, and Congress' top leadership is 'time tested and deep'.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday said former Air Chief S P Tyagi and other accused in the case relating to alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal will have to take permission of the agency before leaving the country.
Sonia Gandhi is expected to unveil Congress' strategy on Monday in the backdrop of opposition flak over issues like the VVIP chopper deal, Italian marines and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam threat to pull out of UPA on Sri Lankan Tamils problem.
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.
Defence Ministry A K Antony has asked AgustaWestland to explain within one week its linkages with software companies allegedly used as a cover for paying kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday started questioning cousins of former Air Chief S P Tyagi in connection with its ongoing probe into alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal.
Armed with documents from Italy, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday named former air force chief S P Tyagi in its preliminary enquiry into allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, the second former defence services chief to figure in a scam probe.
Moving forward in its probe into alleged kickbacks in the VVIP helicopter deal, the Central Bureau of Investigation has procured some documents from Italian authorities in Milan that may help it in determining whether any Indian had received bribes to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland.
The controversial VVIP chopper scam is set to turn the three-month-long Budget session of Parliament beginning Thursday into a troubled affair for the government with the Opposition raring for an attack eyeing the Lok Sabha polls which are not far away.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for speaking in different tunes over the need to cancel the VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland, and said that the main opposition party would like to know is it a cover-up exercise, which has begun.
British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Mumbai on Monday morning on a three-day India visit during which will he meet captains of industry and hold talks with top leaders, who are likely to seek more information on the VVIP helicopters scam involving an Anglo-Italian firm.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has engaged a lawyer in Italy to represent India's case with the Italian government and the local courts to find out the role of Indians in the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal.
The Central Vigilance Commission has sought a report from the Defence ministry on alleged irregularities in the controversial Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal with an Italian firm.
The government on Friday said it was not averse to a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on the Italian VVIP helicopter deal, a move seen as an attempt to ensure a smooth budget session of Parliament commencing next week.
India on Friday made a fresh request to Italy for information on alleged kickbacks in supply of Rs 3600-crore worth of AgustaWestland's VVIP helicopters.
This is the message Finmeccanica chief Giuseppe Orsi sent along with a bottle of champagne to his rivals American Sikorsky, a day ahead of the award of the Rs 3,600 crore contract in February 2010, according to a report by the Italian investigators.
Seeking to contain damage arising out of the alleged kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal, government asked the Italian firm Finmeccanica to state whether any money was illegally paid to any Indian entity or individual coupled with a warning of blacklisting it.
At a time when his party is targeting the government on the VVIP chopper deal, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Thursday came to the rescue of beleagured former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi while admitting that the required parameters in the tender were changed during the NDA rule.
It is too premature to point a finger at former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi. India's mind-boggling acquisition procedure is so complex that no foreign agency can handle the deal without involving a middleman, Air Marshal (retired) B K Pandey tells rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa
The BJP brought Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the line of fire on the alleged kickbacks in the VVIP chopper purchase and raked up the Italian origin of the company as political parties demanded scrapping of the Rs 3,600 crore deal.
The agency on Wednesday received a complaint from the Defence Ministry seeking a probe in the alleged kickback given in the procurement of 12 helicopters produced by Finmeccanica's subsidiary AgustaWestland, CBI sources said in New Delhi.
Former Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi, on Wednesday refuted allegations that he was paid bribes to swing a Rs 3,600 crore deal for procuring 12 choppers from Italian firm Finmeccanica to ferry VVIPS. "I am innocent. These allegations are totally baseless and I am denying them categorically. The deal was signed in 2010 whereas I retired in 2007 itself," he said.
Amid the ongoing probe into the VVIP chopper deal controversy in which a former Indian Air Force chief is facing action by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne on Monday said the Indian Air Force has an unblemished record so far and it is taking measures to ensure there are no deviations.
India has received a fresh tranche of crucial documents from Italy in connection with Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal which is likely to help Central Bureau of Investigation in expediting the probe into the bribery scam allegedly involving the then Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi.
Dengue cases in the national capital crossed the 1,000-mark with 38 people testing positive for the mosquito-borne disease on Thursday, taking the total number of cases this season to 1,057.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi meeting their party's stalwart of many decades -- President Pranab Mukherjee -- is not unusual, but the timing of their visits is, notes Sheela Bhatt
Widening its probe in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, the ED has begun a trail of "cash" which is suspected to have been paid as alleged kickbacks.
The CBI has issued look-out notices for former IAF Chief SP Tyagi, his three cousins and five other Indians who have been named in its FIR in the alleged kickbacks received by them in Rs 3600 crore VVIP chopper deal.
The Indian Air Force is planning to procure more Embraer business jets for its Delhi-based communication Squadron for ferrying VIPs.
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