M A I N   N E W S

BJP directs fire at PM, Antony 
Cancel deal: CPM 
Tribune News Service

Stating that it was reminded of Bofors case and the move by the Congress government to bail out Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, the BJP expressed deep concern as to why the Manmohan Singh regime did not probe the purchase of the helicopters from AgustaWestland in spite of serious allegations that Rs 350 crore was paid in the Rs 3,500-crore deal signed in 2010.

Pointing to news reports, he said serious questions were raised last year about the deal and also about involvement of Indian middlemen, some of whom are related to former Air Chief. There were reports suggesting that the Italian company, through an agreement with Ganton Limited, has agreed to pay 8 to 15 per cent commission for the proposed sale to Delhi Police.

“This only confirmed that the helicopter company does offer and pay commission and it lent great credence to the allegations of corruption requiring proper inquiry,” Prasad said. He sought to know as to why the government did not probe the matter even while the Italian authorities were investigating the corruption charges against Finmeccanica.

Rejecting the government argument that there was no information from Italy as “patently untenable”, the BJP wanted to know if the Italian Government was approached at the highest level seeking information, whether the Italian envoy was summoned to impress upon him the urgency of the issue or the Defence Ministry sent its officials to Italy to get information.

“Obviously someone for some reason was trying to delay investigation when Italy was undertaking extensive inquiry into bribery charges. A legitimate question arises because of the highly suspicious circumstances surrounding inaction was the fact that had the company’s Italian connection something to do about it. We all know how in the Bofors case the Congress government sought to bail out,” the BJP said.

The CPM has demanded cancellation of the deal besides a CBI probe under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The party said the government did not do anything on the plea of lack of “specific information” although investigations in Italy had been going on for the past many months.