The 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters were meant to ferry VVIPs including the President and Prime Minister. (File Photo)
Highlights
- Government will seek report from CBI over chopper deal
- Also says will initiatie move to blacklist AgustaWestland, Finmeccanica
- Counters UPA claim that companies were blacklisted during its rule
Amid the row over the VVIP chopper scam, the government has said it will seek a report from the CBI regarding the deal, and initiate the move to blacklist AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica.
Top government sources told the Press Trust of India that the UPA government had not blacklisted AgustaWestland despite allegations of bribery and that it was only when the NDA came to power in 2014 that all acquisition proposals with the firm were put on hold.
The Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI had in 2013 registered a case in connection with alleged bribes paid by the firm to Indians to clinch the deal for 12 helicopters. They were meant to ferry VVIPs including the President and Prime Minister.
Congress had yesterday claimed that AgustaWestland was blacklisted under UPA rule but "removed" from the blacklist by the Modi government.
Congress leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma had said, "The chopper deal was scrapped. Action was taken by the UPA government. AK Antony, the then Defence Minister, had made a statement in Parliament and AgustaWestland was blacklisted."
However, the government sources told PTI that, "the only punitive action taken by the Congress was in January 2014, just before the Lok Sabha elections, when the UPA government encashed the bank guarantee. They never blacklisted the company as claimed by them".
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had earlier in the day challenged the Congress to show the order by the UPA government confirming the blacklisting.
It was on July 3, 2014 when Arun Jaitley was Defence Minister that an order was issued which put on hold all procurement and acquisition cases in the pipeline with six companies involved in the scam including AgustaWestland and Finmeccanica, the sources said.
They said it was also decided that in cases where the tender process had not started, there shall be no dealing with those companies and entities till conclusion of the CBI probe.