File photo of AW101 helicopter

New Delhi, May 3

The suspected corruption in Rs 3600 crore chopper deal with AgustaWestland will be discussed in Lok Sabha on May 6, and in Rajya Sabha on May 4, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Tuesday.

This comes days after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he would put details of the suspected corruption and supporting documents before Parliament on May 4.

Former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, a suspect in the case, was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation for the second day on Tuesday in connection with the chopper deal.

Tyagi arrived at the CBI headquarters at 11 am, sources said.

The agency had questioned him on various aspects of the case including his alleged links with middlemen, his alleged trips to Italy, reasons behind changing specifications, and relations with his cousins yesterday, the sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate has also summoned him for investigations on charges of money laundering in the deal on May 5.

The former IAF chief has been accused of having reduced flying ceiling of the helicopter from 6,000m to 4,500m (15,000ft), which made Agusta Westland helicopters eligible for bidding.

Tyagi has denied any wrongdoing.

The agency had already questioned Tyagi in 2013 but this session is the first after the Italian court order.

CBI sources said the agency called Gautam Khaitan, former board member of Aeromatrix, one of the suspect in the case, for questioning on Wednesday while Tyagi cousins — Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep — have been called later this week.

It is alleged by Italian prosecutors that bribes to clinch the deal were paid through middlemen and routed through a consultancy contract between AgustaWestland and companies owned by middlemen.

Khaitan and the Tyagi cousins have strongly refuted the allegations against them.

Last year, the CBI estimated that European businessmen James, Gerosa and Haschke had paid some 58 million euros (Rs 423 crore) to have a deal to buy 12 advance helicopters for Indian VVIPs manipulated in favour of AgustaWestland, a UK subsidiary of an Italian company, Finmeccanica.

Sanjeev alias Julie, Rajeev alias Docsa and Sandeep were accused of accepting bribes of Rs 10.5 million euros (Rs 7.68 crore) from some middlemen in two installments — first through bank transfers and then through cash.

The deal was cancelled due to allegations of corruption.

Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica’s former chief Giuseppe Orsi was recently sentenced by the Milan appeals court to 4.5 years in jail for false accounting and corruption over the sale of 12 VVIP choppers to India for Rs 3,600 crore.

The court also sentenced Bruno Spagnolini, former CEO of Finmeccanica’s helicopter subsidiary AgustaWestland, to four years in jail.

The Italian court is believed to said that the firm, Gandhi, some close aides, Singh and Narayan had actively lobbied to seal the deal.

The court is also believed to have quoted a middleman has having mentioned Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel and Tyagi in the judgement. — Agencies