A Delhi court on Wednesday postponed the bail plea hearing of former Air Force Marshal SP Tyagi to December 23, who has been under arrest since December 9 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the ₹3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam.

The Patiala House Court was supposed to give its verdict on the bail plea on Wednesday for which Tyagi was produced in the court. On December 17, the former Air Chief along with his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi and Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan were sent to jail on till December 30.

The hearing was postponed because CBI told the court it needed time to present the case because it had to obtain large volumes of information to interrogate Tyagi and the two other accused. It will present its case next on Friday.

Tyagi, on the other hand, told the special court that the matter is still in the preliminary stage while his lawyer cited healthconcerns. His lawyer also argued that the CBI is basing the entire case on the findings of a court that is based in Italy in April 2016.

The main accusation against Tyagi is that he helped facilitate the defence deal in favour of UK-based AgustaWestland, under which 12 AW101 helicopters were to be bought.

AgustaWestland is a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, an Italian multinational aerospace, defence and security company.

Meanwhile, Tyagi’s daughter Rasika Tyagi is running a campaign demanding his release calling him a “war hero”. In her petition to the President through change.org, she has spoken at length of the ill-treatment being meted out to him.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW