Bringing relief to a lot of parties, the Italian court has given a clean chit to former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi in the much-discussed AgustaWestland scam case.
Explaining its conclusion, the court said that there was no evidence that Tyagi benefited from the VVIP chopper deal or was a part of the scam, reported India Today.
The Italian court's judgement comes in contrast to CBI's claims that it had all the evidence required to prove Tyagi's role in the scam and it has now said that it will continue its investigation into the former Air Force chief's role.
Tyagi, along with his cousin Sanjeev alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer-businessman Gautam Khaitan, has been sent to jail earlier after the CBI said that it had found "incriminating" details of the trio's involvement in the scam.
Tyagi was then granted bail in December 2016, and the Patiala House Court has directed him not to leave the country and furnish a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh.
What is the AgustaWestland Case?
In February 2010, the Congress-led UPA government had struck a deal with UK-based helicopter manufacturing company AgustaWestland to acquire 12 AW101 helicopters for the Indian Air Force. The deal for the choppers, which were being bought to fly VVIPs, had been pegged at Rs 3,600 crore.
In February 2010, the Congress-led UPA government has struck a deal with UK-based helicopter manufacturing company AgustaWestland to acquire 12 AW101 helicopters for the Indian Air Force. The deal for the choppers, which were being bought to fly VVIPs, had been pegged at Rs 3,600 crore.
However, the deal fell through when the Italian police arrested the firm's CEO Bruno Spagnolini and chairman of AgustaWestland's parent company Finmeccanica Guiseppe Orsi, for reportedly paying bribes to the Indian Air Force to land the deal. The UPA government then cancelled the deal.
Congress' involvement
The case also brought up the names of several Congress party members and three middlemen Carlos Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guildo Haschke had spoken about how Sonia Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the deal.
She, however, refuted these claims and said she wasn't afraid of an investigation. "We have nothing to hide. Let them take my name, I am not afraid," she said. "This government has been in power for two years now, why didn't they complete the inquiry?
