Christian Michel is the main accused in the scandal of VVIP choppers (Representation)
New Delhi:
Former Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma and former Air Deputy Marshal Jasbir Singh Panesar are set to be prosecuted by the CBI, pending government sanction, in the AgustaWestland scam case, sources said on Friday. of the agency.
The CBI has contacted the Ministry of Defense for permission to initiate legal proceedings against Messrs. Sharma and Panesar, along with three other people named by the central agency, added the sources.
“Further investigation … revealed the involvement of said officials. We have requested the sanction of the Ministry of Defense to prosecute … Once the sanction is granted, the aforementioned officials, as well as Christian Michel, will be appointed in the extra. bill, ”CBI sources told GalacticGaming.
Despite several attempts to contact him, Mr. Sharma was not available to comment on the matter.
The Agusta Westland affair involves a contract of Rs 3,600 crore for the purchase of 12 luxury helicopters to be used by key Indian rulers like the president, prime minister and other prominent figures.
Signed in 2007 by the government of Manmohan Singh, the contract was canceled six years later amid allegations that AgustaWestland paid bribes in India amounting to Rs 362 crore.
Mr. Sharma, who was Assistant Secretary (Air) at the Ministry of Defense between 2003 and 2007, initiated the purchase of the helicopters in this role. He approved the purchase in 2010 as Managing Director (Defense Acquisition).
A CBI special investigative team took up the case in 2016 and filed its first indictment against SP Tyagi, a former Air Chief Marshal accused of accepting bribes to change specifications of aircraft. helicopters, and 11 others in September 2017.
Other people involved in the case include Christian Michel, one of the three intermediaries in the helicopter deal, as well as Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
Michel, a British national, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2017 on the basis of an Interpol advisory and extradited to India in December 2018.
He is currently in Tihar Prison in Delhi and has been accused by the Law Enforcement Branch of circumventing Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland as bribes.
Along with Mr. Sharma and Mr. Panesar, the CBI also requested a sanction to prosecute SA Kunte (Deputy Chief Test Pilot), Thomas Mathew, Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force) and N Santosh ( then group captain, IAF).
