The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a supplementary charge sheet on Wednesday against former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma, as well as four Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, according to news agency ANI.
According to officials, the CBI has requested permission to prosecute Sharma in connection with the UPA-era AgustaWestland chopper scam.
AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case | CBI files supplementary chargesheet against former CAG & former Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma & several IAF retired officials. As per sources, CBI gets prosecution sanction against Shashi Kant Sharma
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2022
Prior to this, the agency had filed a supplementary chargesheet in the case in June 2020 wherein it named key middlemen Christian Michel James, Rajiv Saxena and 13 others. Notably, this was the second charge sheet filed in the case, and it elaborates in detail about the alleged role played by Michel in receiving and routing the alleged kickbacks through a web of entities to alleged beneficiaries, which include bureaucrats and politicians. The agency had until then not charge-sheeted any politician in this scam.
In March 2020, the CBI had sought prosecution sanction from the Union government against former defence secretary and Comptroller and Auditor General of India Shashikant Sharma, former Air-Vice Marshal Jasbir Singh Panesar, and three other Indian Air Force (IAF) officers in connection with the multi-crore chopper scam.
In the same year, the CBI had sought prosecution sanction against former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, former Air vice-marshal Jasbir Singh Panesar and three other IAF officers – deputy chief test pilot SA Kunte, wing commander Thomas Mathew and former group captain N Santosh. However, it went ahead and filed its charge sheet without awaiting the prosecution sanction against the aforesaid individuals. However, now again the CBI has filed its third charge sheet in which it has named the former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, former Air vice-marshal Jasbir Singh Panesar and three other IAF officers – deputy chief test pilot SA Kunte, wing commander Thomas Mathew and former group captain N Santosh.
According to Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, it is mandatory for CBI to seek a prosecution sanction from the concerned department before filing a charge sheet against a government official.
Shashikant Sharma was Joint Secretary (Air) in the Ministry of Defence when the contract was under consideration. Sharma had reportedly finalised the operational requirements (OR) for the deal.
Sharma later became India’s defence secretary, between July 2011 and May 2013, and went on to become CAG till 2017. The alleged violations and kickbacks in the UPA era scam was one of the biggest controversies during the Manmohan Singh government.
Reportedly, the CBI has stated that the five officers had taken “key decisions” and were actively involved in the procurement process of VVIP chopper deal which took place during UPA-II.
UPA era AgustaWestland Scam
India had signed a deal in 2010 under the UPA regime to buy 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters for the service of the Prime Minister, the President and other VVIPs. It is alleged that some politicians and public servants had abused their official positions to reduce the service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres to make AgustaWestland eligible for the contract and had awarded the contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million in 2010. The deal was cancelled in 2013 after the scam was revealed.
The AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam has been nothing less of a blistering drama ever since middleman Christian Michel was extradited to India from Dubai.
Several revelations came to light, from the names of “Italian Lady”, to “Italian Lady’s son R“. From how Christian Michel was lobbying for the Eurofighter and against the Rafale deal, to how he had unbridled access to the PMO under Congress regime, the CCS and even the investigative agencies.
