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VVIP copter deal: CBI quizzes West Bengal Governor
Tribune News Service

First Governor to be questioned Narayanan is the first serving Governor who has been questioned by the CBI He answered questions relating to a meeting in which a decision was taken to reduce the ‘service ceiling’ of helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres The CBI may also quiz Goa Governor BV Wanchoo

New Delhi, June 27
The CBI today questioned West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan as a ‘witness’ in connection with its probe into allegations of bribery in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland.

This is for the first time a serving Governor has been questioned by the CBI. Sources in the CBI said a team of the CBI recorded the statement of 80-year-old MK Narayanan at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata. He answered questions relating to March 1, 2005, meeting in which a decision was taken to reduce the ‘service ceiling’ (or the altitude at which a helicopter can fly) from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres.

He and Goa governor BV Wanchoo had participated in the meeting in 2005 that allowed key changes in the technical specification of the chopper.

Sources said during questioning, Narayanan, who was the former National Security Adviser, explained the rationale behind the decision. Naraynan was appointed Governor of West Bengal in 2010.

Sources said Wanchoo, who was the chief of the Special Protection Group (SPG) guarding the Prime Minister before he was appointed the Governor, might also be questioned as a witness.

The UPA government had rejected the CBI’s plea to quiz Narayanan and Wanchoo prompting the agency to send a request to President Pranab Mukherjee. The Law Ministry had declined permission saying the two were in constitutional posts which gave them immunity from prosecution under Article 361 of the Constitution.