VVIP chopper deal probe may lead to previous NDA government

NEW DELHI: Is the AgustaWestland scam probe spreading to the previous NDA regime? Two former governors - M K Narayanan and B V Wanchoo — recently claimed during their questioning that the decision to reduce the service ceiling of VVIP helicopters was taken in-principle in 2003 when NDA was in power.
Highly placed sources said the CBI may probe the claims.

During the recording of his statement, Wanchoo told CBI about a meeting held by top officials of the government in 2003 in which it was decided in-principle to have a "realistic operational requirement" after consulting the elite Special Protection Group guarding the prime minister, official sources said.

Sources said this was followed by a letter to Air Headquarters and defence ministry in November and December 2003 for having a relook at the purchase of VVIP helicopters and encourage competition.

For the first time, CBI examined the governors when they were in office. They were part of a March 1, 2005, meeting in which a decision was taken to reduce "service ceiling" (the altitude at which a helicopter can fly) from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres.

While 63-year-old Wanchoo, who was chief of SPG from 2004, put in his papers on July 4, 80-year-old Narayanan, who was national security adviser till 2010, demitted office on June 30.

During the questioning, Wanchoo explained the rationale behind the decision and also said the national security adviser in the former NDA government, Brajesh Mishra, had favoured lowering of service ceiling in 2003, sources said. The former SPG chief said the same decision was reiterated at the March 2005 meeting, sources added.

He told CBI that the previous regime had taken the decision in-principle, keeping in mind the need to encourage competition as well as to change the rules framed for purchasing VVIP choppers in 1970s, sources said.

CBI has registered a case against former IAF chief S P Tyagi and 13 others, including his cousins and European middlemen, in the case.

The allegation against the former IAF chief is that he reduced the flying ceiling of the helicopter so that AgustaWestland was included in the bids. Tyagi has refuted the allegations against him.

However, this decision was stated to have been taken in consultation with officials of SPG and the Prime Minister's Office, including Narayanan and Wanchoo.

The reduction of the service ceiling — the maximum height at which a helicopter can perform normally — allowed the firm to get into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters did not even qualify for the submission of bids.

CBI claims that the parameters regarding the height at which the helicopter can fly as well as the flight evaluation were changed in a manner that enabled AgustaWestland to clinch the deal ahead of its competitor, Sikorsky.



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