New Delhi: In what could spell more trouble for the UPA government, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) is auditing the VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland and is looking into the financial aspects and tendering process to determine if the Italian company was favoured over others.
The CAG’s scrutiny of the controversial deal comes after its reports on coal block and spectrum allocations had caused much grief to the government, leading to washout of several Parliament sessions.
The CAG is auditing the deal at a time when the Opposition is demanding monitoring of the CBI and Enforcement Directorate probes. The CAG report is likely to be completed before May when the budget session will be reconvened after the recess.
Sources said the CAG had begun the audit process much before Italian prosecutors submitted their report and arrested Finmeccanica chief executive Giuseppe Orsi. AgustaWestland is a subsidiary of Finmeccanica.
The official auditor is believed to have accessed files related to the contract and, based on its preliminary findings, sent queries to the defence ministry this week. CAG officials termed the chopper deal audit as secret and refused to divulge details on what queries were sent to South Block. The government is moving to cancel the deal given the damage it could cause to the ruling party ahead of general elections next year. However, a CAG probe will reveal the loss to the exchequer in view of calling off the contract midway.
The ED, which is trailing foreign transactions in the deal and the alleged payoffs to Indian middlemen, may take time to register a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or the Foreign Exchange Management Act until the CBI completes its probe or files an FIR.
‘Indian Army Brigadier asked for $5m to swing another chopper deal for Agusta’
New Delhi: The documents filed in an Italian court also contain details of a $5-million bribe demanded by a Brigadier for influencing another helicopter purchase by the Army.
However, there is no evidence that corroborates Brigadier Saini was paid the sum he had demanded. According to the document recovered by Italian investigators from the residence of the mother of Guido Haschke, one of the key middlemen in the controversial VVIP helicopter deal, Brig Saini had offered to fix the trials of 197 light utility helicopters for the Army in AgustaWestland’s favour.
The investigators have also intercepted a conversation involving the former CEO of Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi, who is presently lodged in an Italian jail, in which he says, “They are talking about the Indian general? Shit, are they talking about the 0.5%?” TNN
Govt not averse to JPC probe: Nath
New Delhi: The government on Friday said it was not averse to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe on the Italian VVIP helicopter deal, a move seen as an attempt to ensure a smooth Budget session of Parliament commencing next week. “We are ready for any investigation. There should be consensus in Parliament on what further steps need to be taken,” Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said. AGENCIES
COURTESY:
Pradeep Thakur TNN
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