Pakistan has signed a deal with Italy-based aerospace giant Leonardo-Finmeccanica for purchasing an undisclosed number of helicopters for search and rescue operations.
In his plea, Michel said the investigation regarding him was over and no useful purpose would be served by keeping him in further incarceration.
In a post on X, the prime minister also urged the people to make contributions to the Armed Forces Flag Day fund.
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Regretting that corrupt practices were happening despite taking precautions, Defence Minister A K Antony has said that the government will further tighten norms to prevent controversies such as the VVIP chopper deal and rely less on imports.
All detained persons were released by 2.10 pm, a senior police official said.
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The defence ministry on Friday scrapped a scam-tainted tender worth over Rs 6,000 crore to procure 197 light helicopters from foreign vendors and decided to allow indigenous players to manufacture these choppers for the armed forces.
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.
The court took note of Michel's submission alleging mental torture inside the jail and directed Tihar jail authorities to produce the CCTV footage and reports by Thursday based on which he was shifted to a high-security ward.
Though the deal was inked in 2008, the process had started much earlier.
Staring at the prospect of being blacklisted in the wake of the chopper scam, Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland has approached the Finance Ministry for release of nearly Rs 2,400 crore which has been put on hold by the defence ministry pending inquiry into the case.
Ahead of the all-party meeting called by her on Wednesday, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Tuesday said she would appeal to everyone to allow Parliament to function smoothly amid apprehensions that the Opposition could cause disruptions over chopper scam and other issues.
He was asked to wait but he reportedly left after some time on the pretext of going to the washroom, officials alleged.
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 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.
"My first reaction is shock... How can anybody say this, on what basis?" Tyagi told NDTV when asked whether he was involved in the VVIP chopper scam.
Amidst allegations of deviation from the tendering process, the government on Wednesday put off the decision on a proposal to procure 197 light helicopters, a move that comes against the backdrop of a scam in another chopper deal involving complainant AgustaWestland of Italy.
After India scrapped a contract for procuring VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland, American firm Textron on Friday said it is ready to offer its unique V-22 Osprey helicopter to India for ferrying its dignitaries.
The court took note of Michel's submission alleging mental torture inside the jail and directed Tihar jail authorities to produce the CCTV footage and reports by Thursday based on which he was shifted to a high-security ward.
The CBI has been carrying out searches at various locations for the past few days to locate assets acquired from the proceeds of the scam, officials said.
Swamy had been instructed by the deputy speaker of the Rajya Sabha that if he failed to do so, his remarks during the Agusta debate would be struck off.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it has been raising the financial irregularities in the VVIP helicopter deal with an Italian company for the past one year and insisted that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government give an explanation about the reported anomalies.
For a man revered for his probity, Defence Minister A K Antony was caught napping when bribes were paid over the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. With the UPA government staring at another scam, nothing it seems will change, writes Sheela Bhatt.
A Joint Parliamentary Committee will probe the controversial chopper deal, with the government on Wednesday asserting that there will be "no cover up" as it was determined to go to the root of the scam and give maximum punishment to the guilty.
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.
Justice Gaur was elevated to the high court in April 2008. He was designated as a permanent judge on April 11, 2012.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday mounted pressure on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government to seek a thorough probe in the VVIP chopper deal. The party also alleged that a corruption of such magnitude cannot happen without political patronage.
The court put various conditions on Khaitan, including that he will not tamper with the evidence or try to contact or influence the witnesses and join the investigation as and when called.
An Italian court on Friday allowed Indian authorities to question alleged middleman Guido Hashcke in the chopper scam case, which is being heard in that country.
According to the remand report submitted to the court, Naidu was named as Accused 37 (A37) in the case.
The deal was "put on hold" only in 2013 after corruption was "proved", he said adding the Congress chief should answer who was behind the delay.
Saxena, a director of Dubai-based firms UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings, is one of the accused named in the chargesheet filed by the ED in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland scam.
Police, which had made extensive preparations by putting up three layers of barricades, detained senior AAP leaders Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Dilip Pandey along with party volunteers, and took them to Parliament Street police station.
"Many people who had some links with Agusta, I am not saying illegitimate links, but some links with Agusta procurement and supply, were given good positions," Parrikar told PTI in an interview.
A Delhi court on Saturday sent former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi, arrested in Rs 450 crore Agusta Westland bribery case in procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters, to police custody for four days after the CBI said he was needed to be quizzed to unearth a "very large conspiracy having international ramifications".
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.
The government has withdrawn the tender for purchase of 98 torpedos for Scorpene submarines which a subsidiary of chopper scam tainted Italian defence conglomerate Finmeccanica had won during the UNited Progressive Alliance regime.
The prime minister maintained that the commitment that the government had made to the people has been fulfilled.
The nexus between middlemen, arms agents and government officials has been broken, according to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
