Former Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, has been arrested by the CBI in the VVIP helicopter deal scam. He is accused of having helped tweak the specifications of the required helicopter in such a way as to favour AgustaWestland company, which got the Rs 3600 crore deal.
The total kickbacks in the deal is said to have been around Rs 360 crore.
This is the first time in India that a military chief has been arrested for any crime.
The crime is alleged to have taken place in 2004, more than a year before Tyagi became air chief in December 2005. His cousins are alleged to have entered into a deal with the company, knowing that he would become the next chief and favour them. His cousin Sanjeev alias Julie Tyagi and a Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan too have been arrested. “All three have been arrested for accepting illegal gratification for exercising influence though corrupt and illegal means,” said a CBI officer. Tyagi retired in 2007.
Tyagi had been under probe by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate since 2015 when the scam broke. The Enforcement Directorate had also questioned his role, as also that of 24 others, in money-laundering last April.
Tyagi is alleged to to have reduced the height of the VVIP helicopters, and its operational ceiling, in such a way that AgustaWestland could be included in the competition.
The helicopters, 12 in number, were required for transporting VVIPs over short distances or to otherwise inaccessible areas. The air force had orginally asked for helicopters that could ferry VVIPs even up to Siachen, considering that the VVIPs could be visiting the high-altitude area. However, this, as well as other specifications, were allegedly lowered at the insistence of Tyagi.
Meanwhile, Tyagi's defence had been that the specifications had already been lowered at the insistence of former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra on the ground that there was no need to spend so much for a transport requirement that was rarely asked for.
