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Stepping up the heat on the Congress, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Lok Sabha on Friday that he would personally monitor the progress of the CBI probe into the ₹3,600-crore helicopter scam. “What we could not do in Bofors (find the beneficiaries of kickbacks), maybe we can do in AgustaWestland,” he said.
Parrikar was addressing the House after Congress members, while putting the onus of the deal on the previous NDA government, staged a walkout demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the irregularities and alleged payment of bribes worth ₹125 crore.
“A Supreme Court-monitored investigation should happen and its reports should be placed in the House every three months,” said senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia before the walkout.
UPA faulted
Earlier, Parrikar tore into the Congress for claiming that the CBI probe had been ordered and the deal terminated during the UPA-II tenure, saying it was a case of legal requirement and ‘forced action’ following the arrest of Agusta’s CEO in Italy.
The Defence Minister also alleged that the UPA-II government had “done everything” to help AgustaWestland bag the contract and that there were big gainers from it.
He said the then Defence Minister AK Antony had put the deal on hold only on May 12, 2014, “the last day of the Lok Sabha elections”, wondering if this was because exit polls had predicted Modi’s victory.
Taking a swipe at Congress President Sonia Gandhi without naming her, Parrikar said (former Air Chief) Tyagi and (Gautam) Khaitan (the accused) are “small people who simply washed their hands in a flowing Ganga (of corruption)”, adding that the government would find out where the Ganga’s flow actually reached.
Parrikar also questioned why the UPA-II government had given the contract to UK-based Agusta Westland International, which is not an original equipment manufacturer, when the tender was submitted by Italy-based AgustaWestland.
Congress reply
Speaking on behalf of the Congress, an aggressive Scindia claimed the deal was started during the NDA regime in 1999 and that the issue of the copter’s height specifications being changed from 6,000 to 4,500 metres was done “at the behest of the then PMO” by the then National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra.
“In December 2003, a letter was written from the Prime Minister’s Office to change the norms and make it 4,500 metres,” Scindia said, questioning the Modi government on what it had done in two years of its rule.
“...24 months have passed of your government, what have you done in 720 days of your government? Have you brought in a single penny? Have you even identified a single person who has indulged in corruption,” he said, questioning the BJP on why it had opposed the proposal for a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the issue in March 2013.
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