AgustaWestland denies wrong doing in Rs 3,600 crore chopper deal

NEW DELHI: Facing threat of cancellation of its deal, AgustaWestland today told the Defence Ministry it was not involved in any wrong doing in securing the Rs 3,600 crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the IAF.

After meeting with Defence Ministry officials, the company issued a statement saying it has nominated former Supreme Court Judge B N Srikrishna for arbitration with the Defence Ministry.

The officials of AgustaWestland including its top executives here denied any wrong doing on the part of the firm in the chopper deal, defence officials said.

The Defence Ministry was represented by Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) Upamanyu Chatterjee along with other officials at the meeting, they said.

Earlier in the day, the firm had said in a statement that, "AgustaWestland denies all allegations of violation of the pre-contract integrity pact and the contract. We will deliver the formal written response to the exceptions raised by the Indian Defence Ministry."

The Ministry's stand on the issue comes after Defence Minister A K Antony's assertion that the firm had violated contractual obligations, for which the government had initiated action against it.

On the arbitration process initiated by the firm, Defence Ministry has taken a stand that it does not apply to the pre-contract integrity pact, which is signed by the Ministry with its vendors.