VVIP chopper deal: Italian court order to come after 3 months

NEW DELHI: Investigative agencies like CBI and ED, probing corruption charges in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, will have to wait for over three months to know the exact legal reasons that led an Italian court to acquit two top officials of the accused firm.

Sources said today that the Milan court, which cleared former Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi and ex-AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini of corruption charges in the chopper deal on October 9, has said it will finalise and put out the final orders in this case after a period of "90 days" from the date of the pronouncement of this order.

The court had, however, sentenced the duo to two-year jail term on lesser charges of falsification of invoices.

Representatives of the Indian Consulate in Milan, the sources said, have informed the government and investigators here that the two executives of the accused firm have been held guilty on charges of "tax evasion" which is a offence of civil nature in that country.

The report sent here said the Italian prosecutor in the case did not allow any intervention by any authority to join the proceedings and hence the Indian officials, as authorised by the Ministry of Defence, were not able to make any submissions from their side.

"If the agencies could have got the order they would understand the kind of evidence produced and the court's observations that led to the order on October 9.

"However, despite these developments the probe in criminal cases filed by agencies like CBI and Enforcement Directorate will carry on independently. The court order can be collected later," the sources said.