Opposition does not stall legislative agenda; Upper House passes two bills.
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.
He was asked to wait but he reportedly left after some time on the pretext of going to the washroom, officials alleged.
CBI sources said while Air Marshal (Retd) Gujral has been asked to appear for questioning on Saturday, Tyagi will be examined on Monday.
Congress MP Shantaram Naik has also given a privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in the Rajya Sabha in the AgustaWestland issue.
The defence ministry has handed over some documents received from an Italian court to the Central Bureau of Investigation to verify if there was any breach of contractual obligations by Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland in the Rs 3,600 crore deal for 12 helicopters, official sources said on Tuesday.
...with extravagant claims in both the eastern and western sectors, observes Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, as India is fixated on asserting its border claims based on the McMahon Line.
The CBI has so far maintained that Gujral was questioned as a witness, but remained tightlipped if he will still retain the same status.
While questioning Christian Michel in Dubai, Rosemary Patrizi tells Ashis Ray, Indian investigators made him an offer -- that if he named a member of the Gandhi family as having received kickbacks, they would not pursue him as an accused.
Congress sought to put the onus on the ruling NDA government about the irregularities in AgustaWestland helicopter deal.
Officials said the agency has sought property details on ten serving and retired officials of the ministry of defence and the IAF.
Justice Gaur was elevated to the high court in April 2008. He was designated as a permanent judge on April 11, 2012.
Catch all the debates and discussions from the Upper and Lower Houses.
Despite disruptions over central rule in Uttarakhand and fresh revelations on the AugustaWestland chopper deal, the Rajya Sabha passed four bills and Lok Sabha cleared three.
The stage is set for another stormy week in the Parliament. The Opposition and the government has been at loggerheads over the VVIP chopper scam since the time a Milan court gave its verdict.
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.
Enforcement Directorate has issued summons for appearance to Sanjeev Tyagi, cousin of former IAF chief S P Tyagi, in connection with its money laundering probe into the Rs 3,600 crore AgustWestland VVIP helicopter deal.
He also said that Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy has not lied about the deal but it seems he has been misled.
Catch all the debates from the Upper and Lower House of Parliament.
Noting the urgency and desire on the part of India to extradite people accused of corruption, the UK on Friday said a "legal process" is on in Vijay Mallya's matter and it has to be followed through as there cannot be any shortcut. In May last year, the fugitive businessman lost his appeals in the British Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. Asked when can Mallya be extradited to India and if some kind of legal issue is still pending in the matter, new British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, without pointing to any particular case, said he recognises the urgency, importance and the desire to get back people who are accused of corruption to India.
The ministry had on Friday decided to replace Chatterjee as joint secretary and acquisition manager (Air), in-charge of handling the chopper deal, which is facing cancellation in view of bribery allegations, and the multi-billion dollar 126 combat aircraft deal of the Air Force.
Pakistan has signed a deal with Italy-based aerospace giant Leonardo-Finmeccanica for purchasing an undisclosed number of helicopters for search and rescue operations.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi said she is not afraid of anything as the party has nothing to hide in the case.
Taken by surprise by the decision of an Italian judge to include Defence Minister A K Antony as a possible witness in a trial relating to corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, India on Monday night ruled out his appearance in the court.
A special court on Saturday issued fresh summons against three accused in a money laundering case related to the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal in which it had earlier issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against British national and alleged middleman Christian Michel James.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has started fresh questioning of the cousins of former IAF chief SP Tyagi in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal in light of claims by alleged middleman Guido Haschke that he had paid money to them.
Former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Wednesday said that he played no role in the controversial Rs 3,600 crore VVIP AgustaWestland chopper deal.
The commission has also sought records related to the termination of the deal to be presented before it in an in camera proceedings for its perusal before deciding whether they can be disclosed under the RTI Act or they attract its exemption clauses.
With only one day left, the Winter session of Parliament is on the verge of a washout as it failed to transact any business again on Thursday.
Congress MP Shantaram Naik on Tuesday gave a notice for breach of privilege against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy in Rajya Sabha.
Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica's former chief Giuseppe Orsi has been sentenced by the Milan appeals court to 4.5 years in jail for false accounting and corruption in the sale of 12 VVIP choppers to India for over Rs 3,600 crore.
Claiming to be innocent, he said he might have some information which could enable the Indian authorities to progress with their probe into the scandal.
Asthana was sent on a forced leave after the CBI registered a case of corruption against him. His plea to quash the FIR was rejected by the Delhi high court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has sent a letter to the Indian embassy in Italy seeking details on the arrest of Guido Ralph Haschke, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, by Swiss authorities.
'A thief sees a thief in everyone,' he said in an apparent swipe at the prime minister.
According to Dr Mickey Mehta, if you control what you eat for a month, you will be able to lose weight get back in shape.
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.
In his hard-hitting speech at a gathering of ex-servicemen, the prime minister referred to the Bofors scam, AgustaWestland chopper scam, Rafale issue and inordinate delays in procurement of critical military platforms and ammunition by previous government.
With the deal for procuring VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland facing the prospect of being scrapped, the Defence Research and Development Organisation on Wednesday said it has the capability to manufacture such helicopters even though it contended that producing anything entirely indigenously was impractical.
Lawyer ML Sharma has petitioned the Supreme Court for FIRs against the Congress leaders, who have been named in documents annexed to an Italian court in the VVIP chopper deal.
