All deals involving billions of dollars are approved only at the top level
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All deals involving billions of dollars are approved only at the top level

Archive Manager by WEB DESK
Feb 23, 2013, 12:00 am IST
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Abhimanyu

CORRUPTION has become a part of the UPA-II. And in all major defence deals in this  country, how come the name of one family continues to pop up. After Bofors, which  during its time was regarded as “mother of all scam”, its now billion dollar VVIP chopper  scam. And if it’s big it has to have alleged links with the first family of the country.

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has gone on record alleging that Congress  President Sonia Gandhi’s family is involved in the deal chopper scandal.  If Swamy is to be  believed then the “Nehru-Gandhi family has acquired the most part of the commission.”
Swamy alleged: “About half of the total money has gone to Sonia’s two sisters in Italy in  the AgustaWestland chopper scandal.”
The defence minister A.K. Antony has gone on to claim that all possible steps have been  taken and that CBI has swung into action. A CBI team has been rushed to Milan to meet  the Italian prosecutors, who inteorrogated the alleged middleman Guido Haschke Ralph.
Of course he has refused to quit over the deal and said  that  the government had nothing  to hide in connection with the VVIP chopper deal. “We have nothing to hide. The  government has nothing to hide. That is why we are waiting for the Parliament session.  We will give all the details before Parliament,” he said. Another blue eyed boy of  the Gandhis, external affairs minister, Salman J Khurshid has  gone on record saying that the deal must not be scrapped. Speaking to the media  Khurshid said: “There is a very important segment of opinion, including former air  chiefs, who have nothing to do with the AgustaWestland deal, who have certified that the  quality of the product is beyond compare. Nobody has raised a question on the quality of  the aircraft. Even on the changing of tech specifications, there has been no question – it  was done with the best intentions of opening the field to more players.”

Intrestingly despite the tall claims of the government, for reasons, it has not yet bothered  to disclose the list of beneficiaries of  the deal.
In India and perhaps around the world tainted defence deals cannot be confined to a  handful of bureuacrats or top defence personnel. Initially the main target was the former  IAF chief S.P. Tyagi. But could Tygai have pulled off this 3,600 crore deal without  clearance from the top of  the government? It’s unlikely.

Reports appearing in a section of the media has pointed towards some political link.  Quoting Italian news reports an English daily in India wrote that the “ father of Christian  Michel, the main commission agent in the AgustaWestland deal, was close to the Congress  party”. It further stated that the “ other middleman in the deal, Guido Ralph Haschke had  served briefly as a Director on the board of Emaar-MGF, a real estate company promoted  by the father of Kanishka Singh, who is a close aide of Rahul Gandhi.” In fact Kanishka  Singh is called in the party circles as “Rahul Gandhi’s man Friday.”  Of course Kanishka  apparently has no direct link with Emmar-MGF. It was reported that  the company  was founded by Ved Prakash Gupta, who was Kanishka’s grandfather, and promoted by  SK Singh, Kanishka’s father and an IFS officer who was considered close to Rajiv Gandhi  and served as Rajasthan Governor. With regard to the other middleman ,Christian Michel,  reports stated that his father, Wolfgang Max Michel Richard, was a British businessman  who was active in India during the 1980s and 1990s and was close to the Congress party.
Wolfgang Michel evidently had business interests in Libya, Russia, Iran and Iraq. And could the deal been struck without clearance or the knowledge of the PMO? Again it  seems unlikely.

The government has handed over the investigation to the CBI. Question being raised in  some section was why the so called “credible investigative agency like CBI “ did not   initiate a suo moto probe into the deal ?  And as for CBI dealing with the Italian  connection one cannot forget the way the agency virtually saved the prime accused in the  Bofors case, Ottavio Quattrochi to escape. Till now CBI, which is travelling in Italy has  not given any indication of  the arms lobbyists involved in the deal.

Incidentally an investigation by a TV channel  claim that  the controversial Abhishek  Verma (now in prison) was in direct contact with Finmeccanica CEO Guisseppe Orsi.
Verma’s aides even held meetings with Ors. But the government remains silent on the  issue. Another report pointed out that a top Delhi Police official was allegedly  compromised in the setting up of a chopper deal. However, the police chief, Neeraj Kumar   reacted by saying that he was special CP in charge of administration and security before  CWG and the thought didn’t cross his mind to have any deal with AgustaWestland or buy  choppers from them. The investigation by the TV channel claimed to have exposed the link  between the multi-crore arms scandal and the Commonwealth games.
The memo called  Vicenzo-Massimo, dated 14th September, 2009 which links mega VVIP chopper deal  with another planned chopper deal, revealed shocking details of how AgustaWestland  through jailed arms dealer Abhishek Verma accessed sensitive information on proposed  chopper purchases for the Commonwealth Games. Questions now being raised is — when  there are dozens of emails exposing Agustawestland-Abhishek Verma link, why has  government so far done nothing?

Reports also indicated that AgustaWestland had also tried to influence the Ministry of  Home Affairs (MHA) for another deal for helicopters for the Delhi Police. As per the  documents, AgustaWestland offered eight per cent commission to secure the order for  helicopters. However, the Delhi Police copter purchase never went through.

Timeline of  the VVIP chopper deal:
1999-2000: IAF first moots proposal to buy helicopters for VVIPs keeping in mind  frequent visits to Siachen by then defence minister George Fernandes.
IAF seeks choppers that can fly at 18,000ft
Only one company – Eurocopter – is eligible for having a chopper that can fly at that  altitude.
Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy’s tenure ended in 2003: Then National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra recommends altering the ceiling  requirement from 18,000ft to 15,000ft to avoid a single-vendor situation and also seeks to  involve the Special Protection Group (SPG) in the helicopter selection process. Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi’s tenure 2006: Request for proposal issued with revised requirements.
Competition between Sikorsky and AgustaWestland

AgustaWestland declared lowest bidder and also cleared in technical evaluation by SPG,  which wanted helicopter with higher roof and wider body. Three-engine AW101 is  considered safe option for VVIPs. Air Chief Marshal Fali Major’s tenure 2008-09: Price negotiations begin.
Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik’s tenure 2010: Contract awarded. Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne’s tenure 2012: First three of 12 helicopters delivered.

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