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.
There is concern about the poor state of readiness of the navy's 140 warships which face severe shortages in sonar equipment, helicopters and torpedoes.
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.
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
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.
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.
'As an aspirational district, one of the main challenges is health and nutrition of the tribal community.' 'They are 1.5 lakhs to 1.6 lakhs tribals in this district.' 'The major issue among tribals is malnutrition and anaemia.'
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.
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.
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
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.
"I answer all your questions, whatever you ask me. Why don't you question Prime Minister Modi on the Rafale deal, on Amit Shah's son. Why don't you question the prime minister who changed the entire Rafale deal to help a businessman?" he asked.
The Indian Air Force is planning to procure more Embraer business jets for its Delhi-based communication Squadron for ferrying VIPs.
Till now, Vadra, 46, the businessman husband of Priyanka Gandhi, an SPG protectee, was exempted from frisking at airports when he travelled with an SPG protectee.
AgustaWestland, which is facing allegations of paying kickbacks to secure VVIP choppers deal, on Friday replied to the Indian show cause notice for cancelling the contract saying it has not indulged in any wrong practice.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said that he has not expressed any reservation over the defence ministry's move to scrap the Rs 3,546 crore VVIP chopper deal, and added that his comment was a sensible one.
Holding that investigation into the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal was on at "many levels", India on Monday said letters rogatory is the "best and strongest method" available to it for seeking details from Italian courts on the case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party today asked Congress to come clean on reports alleging that close associates of a former Union minister and a Congress vice president were beneficiaries of the bribes paid in the VVIP chopper deal.
Sanjeev Tyagi, a cousin of former Air Chief S P Tyagi, on Saturday rubbished charges of having received kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, saying it was an "absolute lie" even as he admitted having met one of the middlemen 17 years back on a power sector deal.
A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the defence ministry is likely to leave for Italy on Sunday to probe the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal. CBI sources said the team will meet Italian prosecutors to ascertain the details of the case.
Amid the storm over alleged kickbacks in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai on Friday said an audit of the controversial deal is under progress and a report would be released soon.
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