News

AgustaWestland scam: Ex IAF Chief Tyagi granted bail by Delhi court

File Photo

Former Indian Air Force Chief S P Tyagi and his cousins, in the AgustaWestland money laundering case, were granted bail by the Patiala House Court in Delhi on Wednesday.

They were directed by the House to give Rs 1 lakh as bail bond with one surety of same amount. Special judge Arvind Kumar, recognizing the chargesheet filed, had summoned over 30 accused in the case to appear before it today, including former AgustaWestland and Finmeccanica directors Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini and lawyer Gautam Khaitan and his wife Ritu.

AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica SPA had also been directed to appear, however, the foreign individuals and firms did not appear.

Earlier, in 2010, AgustaWestland signed a Rs 3,546 crore contract to supply 12 AW-101 helicopters to the IAF. Among those, eight were to be used to transport VVIPs including the President, Prime Minister, the Vice-President and others, while four were to be used for other duties. The AW-101s had been meant to be replace the Soviet Mi-8 helicopters.

In its chargesheet filed under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED accused 34 people and entities of playing a role in the deal. It said a company, which Tyagi was a partner at, received over Rs 1 crore in kickbacks as part of the deal.

Click to comment
To Top