New Delhi, December 21

A Delhi court today directed the CBI to cancel the lookout circular (LOC) issued against former IAF chief SP Tyagi, an accused in the VVIP chopper scam. Special Judge Arvind Kumar directed the probe agency to inform the authorities concerned about it.

The CBI had issued LOC — to check if a person who is travelling is wanted by the law enforcement agencies — against Tyagi in 2013.

The CBI on September 1, 2017, had filed a chargesheet in the case in which Tyagi and British national Christian Michel were named as accused along with others. Eight others were also named in the chargesheet in connection with a bribery case in the VVIP chopper deal.

Tyagi (73) is the first chief of the Indian Air Force to be chargesheeted in a corruption or a criminal case by the CBI and he has denied all charges against him. On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of 398.21 million euro (around Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth euro 556.262 million. — PTI