Defence Ministry gets new evidences, seeks explanation from Agusta

NEW DELHI: Armed with fresh evidences and documents in connection with the VVIP chopper scam, the Defence Ministry has shot off a letter to AgustaWestland seeking further explanation from it on the charges against it in the Rs 3,600 crore deal.

Meanwhile, the top brass of the Anglo-Italian firm is scheduled to meet in Europe today to decide on seeking international arbitration against the Defence Ministry under the "terms of the contract" over the alleged breach of contract by it, industry sources said here.

The Defence Ministry has received fresh set of evidences and documents from an Italian court hearing the case against former Finmeccannica CEO Guiseppe Orsi for allegedly paying kickbacks to Indian officials for securing the deal to supply 12 AW-101 choppers to India for ferrying VVIPs.

The letter was written to the firm over a week ago in which the Ministry had asked for detailed answers on the new facts in the case, sources told PTI here.

The Defence Ministry had earlier issued a show cause notice to the Italian firm asking why the contract should not be cancelled in view of the allegations against it, they said.

The Defence Ministry is looking for breach in contractual obligations by the Anglo-Italian firm and will not wait for the CBI investigation report to cancel the deal if gets concrete evidence against it in the documents.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has been told by its lawyers in Italy that the name of Defence Minister A K Antony is not there in the list of people who may be called as witnesses in the trial going on in the court of Busto Arsizio, sources said.

Reports had recently suggested that Antony may be summoned as one of the 80 witnesses in the Italian trial.