AgustaWestland's meeting with defence ministry--last bid to save the deal

A six member delegation of Anglo-Italian defence giant AgustaWestland is going to make a detailed presentation before the ministry of defence official on Wednesday, probably, in a last bid to save the Rs. 3600 crore deal for supply of 12 VVIP helicopters to the Indian Air Force.

AgustaWestland has been given final show cause notice to reply by 26 November.

According to a top defence ministry official, AgustaWestland representatives is going to have a meeting with senior defence ministry officials, including the defence secretary RK Mathur, where they will be making a presentation. Meeting will last for about 90 minutes in south block, which houses the ministry of defence. 

“Before replying to defence ministry’s final show cause notice, they wanted to have a meeting with the ministry official. Since, they have been given deadline of 26 November to respond to the final show cause, the ministry will not take any decision before it,”an official told dna.

However, the sources have told dna that the internal probe based on the document, the defence ministry is convinced that bribes were paid to swing the deal in favour AgustaWestland. 

But, the ministry will take any decision once it gets a written reply from company after 26 November.

Based on the documents available with the ministry of defence, the AgustaWestland was issued a show cause notice to explain why all or any action as prescribed including cancellation of the contract should not be taken against them for violating the terms of the “pre-contract integrity pact”and the contract for procurement of 12 helicopters, according to a defence ministry official.

Ministry’s notice is backed by the legal opinion from the  the Attorney General on whether the firm breached its contractual obligations and the integrity pact.

After the revelation of quid pro quo in VVIP chopper deal in February last year, the ministry of defence has frozen the deal.

Though, the IAF has already received three helicopters, but they are not using them as delivery of the rest has been put on hold.

Simultaneously, the deal is already being probed by the CBI.

The CBI has named 13 accused including former IAF chief SP Tyagi in its FIR has claimed that Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa (both middlemen) managed to send 5.6 million euros through Mohali-based IDS Infotech and Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix Info Solutions Private Ltd to India and kept the remaining amount of about 24.30 million euros received from AgustaWestland with themselves in the account of IDS Tunisia.