Sanjha Morcha

CBI arrests ex-IAF Chief Tyagi, 2 others

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 9

The Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi, his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi, alias Julie Tyagi, and lawyer Gautam Khetan on charges of irregularities in the procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. The three will be produced before a CBI court tomorrow.Tyagi, 71, is accused of influencing the Rs 3,600-crore deal in favour of UK-based helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland during his tenure as the IAF Chief from 2004 to 2007. Tyagi has repeatedly denied the allegations. A CBI statement said: “A case was registered on March 12, 2013 under sections 120B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 7, 8, 9, 12 & 13(2), 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against then Chief of Air Staff and 18 others.  It was alleged the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) entered into criminal conspiracy with other accused persons and in 2005, conceded to change IAF’s consistent stand that service ceiling of VVIP helicopters (6,000 metres) was an inescapable operational necessity and reduced the same to 4,500 metres. Such changes in operational requirements (ORs) made the private company based in UK eligible to participate in the request for proposal (RFP) for VVIP helicopters.”“It was revealed during investigation that such undue favours were allegedly shown to the UK-based private company by accepting illegal gratifications from the accused vendors through middlemen/relatives, including his cousin and an advocate, etc, who accepted the illegal gratification for exercising influence through illegal means, or using personal influence over the public servants concerned,” the statement said.Sources said based on the CBI complaint, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had booked the former Air Force chief and some members of his family. In July 2014, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Tyagi and 20 others. He was questioned repeatedly by the ED and for four days by the CBI this year.Sources say investigations have revealed that the Tyagis allegedly entered into a consultancy deal with middlemen in 2004, when Air Chief Marshal Tyagi’s cousins were certain he would be the next Air Force chief and in a position to influence the deal.The sources said Tyagi is accused of reducing the required flying ceiling for VVIP helicopters from 6,000 m to 4,500 m thereby helping AgustaWestland to qualify for deal. The CBI said payments were made through Tunisia-registered companies controlled by Switzerland-based intermediaries Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa and transferred to accounts in India and Mauritius.While investigating the case, the CBI had issued Letter Rogatory (judicial request) to multiple countries to gather more leads and evidence, the sources said. SP Tyagi was allegedly paid kickbacks by middlemen through cousins, Julie, Sandeep and Dosca Tyagi, the sources said.

Rs 450-cr bribery case

August, 1999: IAF proposes replacement of Mi-8s due to operational constraintsMarch, 2002: A global request for proposals issuedMarch, 2005: IAF changes key requirements in acquisition favouring AgustaWestland February, 2010: MoD concludes contract with AgustaWestland for 12 helicopters February, 2012: Amid reports of ‘unethical’ dealings, MoD seeks report from embassy in RomeMarch, 2013: CBI registers FIR against Tyagi, 18 othersJanuary, 2014: Government terminates pact with AgustaWestlandMay 2, 2016: CBI begins grilling TyagiDecember 9: SP Tyagi, cousinSanjeev Tyagi, alias Julie, and lawyer Gautam Khaitan held

Rules bended

  • Former IAF Chief SP Tyagi is accused of reducing the required flying ceiling for VVIP helicopters from 6,000m to 4,500m, thus helping AgustaWestland to compete for the Rs 3,600-crore deal
  • In return, around Rs 450 cr in kickback was paid through Tunisia-registered firms controlled by Swiss-based intermediaries Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa and transferred to accounts in India and Mauritius

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CBI arrests former air chief Tyagi in AgustaWestland helicopter case

NEW DELHI: The CBI arrested on Friday former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and two others allegedly for taking bribes ina `3,727-crore deal to buy AgustaWestland helicopters for government VIPs.

This is the first time a retired service chief has been arrested in India’s military history. The arrests, including of Tyagi’s cousin Sanjeev alias Julie and lawyer Gautam Khaitan, are the first in the case. Sources said all three were called for questioning on Friday, and later arrested after they “refused to cooperate” with investigators. They will be produced before a court on Saturday, and the CBI is expected to seek their remand for custodial interrogation.

The arrests came nearly three years after India scrapped the contract for 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers following allegations of corruption. The deal was signed in 2010.

Six companies – Italy based Finmeccanica, its UK-based subsidiary AgustaWestland, Mohalibased IDS Infotech, Chandigarhbased Aeromatrix, IDS Tunisia and IDS Mauritius – also figured in the report. Investigations gathered pace after an Italian court of appeals pointed fingers at 71-yearold Tyagi in April 2016, observing that there were “unmistakable indications of corruption” by an Indian officer.

In an FIR filed in March 2013, the CBI had named 13 people – including the former air force chief; his cousins Sanjeev alias Julie, Rajeev alias Docsa and Sandeep; three alleged middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschke; former Union minister Santosh Bagrodia’s brother Satish Bagrodia; IDS Infotech managing director Partap Aggarwal; Aeromatrix CEO Praveen Bakshi; former Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi; former AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini; and IDS Infotech legal advisor Gautam Khaitan – as the accused in the case. Defence minister Manohar Par rik ar had said in the LokSabha that some members of the UPA government were the real beneficiaries, while Tyagi only received “chillar” – or small change – from the scam.

“It was revealed during an investigation that such undue favours were allegedly shown to the said UK-based private company (AgustaWestland) by accepting illegal gratification from the accused vendors through middlemen and relatives, including his (Tyagi’s) cousin and an advocate. They accepted the illegal gratification for exercising influence through illegal means, or using personal influence over the public servants concerned,” CBI spokesperson Devpreet Singh said.

All the three had been questioned by investigators on a previous occasion.

According to the CBI, Tyagi allowed the air force to reduce the service ceiling for choppers from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres – helping AgustaWestland enter the fray. The firm’s choppers are not capable of flying up to 6,000 metres.

Besides this, the agency alleged that Haschke – through his Tunisia-based company Gordian Services Sarl – entered into several consultancy contracts with AgustaWestland from 200405 onwards. He also made consultancy contracts with Tyagi’s cousins on a back-to-back basis. The CBI managed to trace at least two remittances totalling 3.26 lakh euros from Hashcke to the trio.

Investigators also reported other payments made by Haschke and Gerosa to the accused. The inflow of remittances to the Tyagi cousins’ accounts and the softening of air force’s stand on service ceiling matched closely in terms of time, the CBI alleged.

According to the FIR, Haschke and Gerosa managed to send 5.6 million euros to India through Mohali-based IDS Infotech and Chandigarh-based Aeromatric Info Solutions, and kept the remaining sum of the 24.3 million euros received from AgustaWestland for themselves.

The agency alleged that British middleman Christian Michel received 30 million of the 51 million-euro kickbacks paid by AgustaWestland. It is suspected that Michel channeled funds to India through a Singapore-based company.

India had scrapped the contract with AgustaWestland on January 1, 2014.