SHREYA KEDIA
One fails to understand why the Congress is so rattled with the arrest of former chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal SP Tyagi, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore Agusta-Westland VVIP chopper deal case. In a scathing attack against the BJP, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the timing of the arrest. He asked, “The BJP never did anything in the case for last three years. Why the arrest now?” Singhvi even called Air Marshal Tyagi’s arrest a diversionary tactic of the BJP Government to deviate attention from the turmoil created due to demonetisation.
In Singhvi’s accusations, two questions arise. First, what attempts did the UPA Government make with regards to the deal when it was in power until May 2014? Second, with regards to demonetisation, who’s running away from the debate? The BJP Government has time and again expressed its intent to debate the issue with the Prime Minister’s presence in Parliament and outside. The Opposition, on the other hand, has again and again come up with unrealistic demands, stalling Parliament almost every day amid noisy protests.
Coming back to Air Marshal Tyagi’s arrest, the AgustaWestland deal dates back to 2010, when the then UPA Government, in a bid to replace Soviet-made helicopters, signed a contract with AgustaWestland. The deal was made to purchase 12 AW101 helicopters which were meant to ferry VVIPs. Much has happened since the signing of the deal. Allegations first came to light in 2012, when there were several media reports about allegations of unethical dealing in the helicopter procurement. The Indian Embassy in Rome was then told to submit a report on the allegations. In the next big breakthrough, in February 2013, Italian authorities arrested AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini and Guiseppe Orsi, chairman of AgustaWestland’s parent company, Finmeccanica, for paying bribes to procure the deal. It was here that the names of several IAF officials, including that of Air Marshal Tyagi, first surfaced. Following this development, the Ministry of Defence under the UPA regime put the deal on hold.
As a follow-up, Indian investigations into the case started in February 2013, when the then Defence Minister AK Antony ordered a CBI inquiry against 11 persons and four companies.
Subsequently, in March 2013, an FIR was launched against Air Marshal Tyagi and 12 others for criminal conspiracy and cheating in the chopper deal. Though the FIR did not accuse the former Air Force chief of having taken money, it said that he had direct interactions with politicians in securing clearance from a Cabinet panel dealing with the issue, for altering technical specifications to meet AugustaWestland’s provisions.
Finally, citing breach of pre-contract integrity pact, the UPA Government cancelled the deal in January 2014. By this time, three choppers had already been delivered, while payments for the rest got frozen. Thereafter, no progress was made in the case for about seven months until the Modi Government came to power.
It was on September 2014, that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Gautam Khaitan, a Chandigarh-based middleman, in connection with the case. The ED also registered a case against Air Marshal Tyagi and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. However, in October 2014, a court in Italy convicted Orsi and Spagnolini and sentenced them to a jail term of two years on the false accounting charge.
Then in April 2016, a Milan court sentenced Orsi to four-nad-a-half years in jail for false accounting and corruption. Spagnolini was handed a four-year jail term on the same charges.
In a startling revelation, Christian James Michel, the middleman in the AgustaWestland deal, said that he was ready to come to India to face investigations. He also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene. In his letter, he claimed that he was willing to share evidence related to the AgustaWestland case with the investigating agencies. Although he denied reports of his and his father being close to the Nehru-Gandhi family, one wonders why would he genuinely come up and lead investigations.
On May 2, the CBI finally began grilling Air Marshal Tyagi over his alleged links with middlemen, and on December 9, Air Marshal Tyagi, his cousin Sanjiv alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan were arrested by the CBI on corruption charges.
Indeed, the aforementioned timeline investigations reveal quite a bit. But what is curious is the inexplicable accusation of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. After an earthquake -warning, Gandhi, in a Press conference, he said that he had “concrete” proof of the Prime Minister Modi’s personal complicity in a case. This is what he said in the Lok Sabha: “Narendra Modi ji par personal information hai, unke baare mein personal information hai, jo mai Lok Sabha mein rakhna chahta hun. I want to see it in Lok Sabha as an MP. I have been chosen by people of India. Mujhe Hindustan Amethi ke logon ne chuna hai mai Parliament ka ek member hoon. Mai iss sadan me rakhna chahta hun. Mujhe roka ja raha hai.”
Indeed, the Congress MP’s allegation raised Opposition hopes, but one would wonder: If he really has information, why does he not make it public? He had three occasions, two within Parliament and one outside, where he was staging a dharna at the Jantar Mantar. Is Parliament the only place where one can make sesimic revelations? Even if it is, there were ample opportunities during the Winter Session, to furnish documents against the Prime Minister.
The fact of the matter is that demonetisation is just a garb under behind which the Congress is seeking refuge. Else, why would it create ruckus over Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju’s supposed involvement in irregularities? On the contrary, Rahul Gandhi is himself indulging in diversionary tactics to take people’s attention away from the long-term benefits of demonetisation.
Perhaps the Congress is rattled by Air Marshal Tyagi’s remark that specifications of the helicopter deal were tweaked at the behest of office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office. His statements in turn mean trouble for the Congress, which can put the party in controversy. In indulging in mere rhetoric, the Congress has undertaken a risky move. It is now all the more important for Rahul Gandhi to prove his allegations against the Prime Minister, so as to avoid being laughed off once again. But then, given the recent conduct of the Congress and its leaders, one more round of laughter is unavoidable.
(The writer is a practising journalist)