VVIP chopper scam: Congress' rebuttal to 5 major allegations

The Congress has objected strongly to points raised by Manohar Parrikar and Subramanian Swamy

The government went on the offensive in the AgustaWestland controversy on Wednesday, with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar stating in Parliament that an inquiry into it would focus on those an Italian court judgement named.

Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader and Congress President Sonia Gandhi's bête noire Subramanian Swamy has also placed several allegations against the Congress party in the AgustaWestland deal. 

The Congress has objected strongly to points raised by Parrikar and Swamy, with leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing the BJP of pursuing a politically motivated campaign to defame the grand old party through the scam associated with the deal.

 

Here is an account of Congress' rebuttal to the 5 major allegations made against it: 

1) Lowering the flight ceiling of the choppers: 

BJP: The ruling party has alleged that the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had lowered the flight ceiling requirement of the choppers competing for the deal in a bid to favour AgustaWestland
 

Congress: Refuting the BJP's allegations, former defence minister A K Antony stated that the decision to change the flying altitude of the choppers from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres was taken by then PMO and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2003. "The decision to change height was taken by the PMO. The major decision was taken by your (NDA) government in 2003. I am not casting any aspersions, just stating facts," Antony said. 

2) Improper field trials:

BJP: Swamy has alleged that the field trials of the AgustaWestland chopper were not conducted properly. Field trials should always be conducted on the helicopter you are going to use, Swamy said. They chose to have field trials in Italy but why was the testing done on another helicopter, Swamy questioned. Swamy alleged that the act amounted to fraud and they (Congress leaders) were prosecutable under section 420 of the IPC.

Congress: Clarifying on the specific charge, Antony, according to the Indian Express, said that the field trials for the AgustaWestland company were carried out in the UK while the trials of the Sikorsky chopper were carried out in USA from January 16, 2008, to February 2008. According to the report, Antony said, "When the file came to me, as defence minister, I objected. Then vice-chief of air staff wrote to the defence secretary. The process followed bureaucratic channels, and I endorsed.

3) Suspicious initials in documents cited by the Italian court: 

BJP: The BJP has raised allegations against Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel, based on suspicious initials found in documents cited by the Italian court.
 

Congress: The grand old party's Abhishek Manu Singhvi directly addressed the issue of "CP, (Congress president Sonia Gandhi) V-P (Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi) and AP, (Sonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel)" - the three initials from documents cited by the Italian court, which had led to much heat and chaos in the House. He made detailed references to the Italian court's judgement and stated that the court had not indicted, or found any evidence against any of the Congress leaders. Citing the Jain Hawala judgement ruling argued by Arun Jaitley (now Union finance minister) to bolster his argument, Singhvi said that initials have no evidence in a legal case. "LKA" (Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani) had been acquitted of all charges he reminded members.

4) Cost escalation: 

BJP: Alleging impropriety in the price for the choppers agreed upon by the then UPA government, Swamy has said, "In September 2008, contract negotiations committee (CNC) arbitrarily fixed Rs 4,877.5 crore as the deal which was 6 times more." According to Swamy, in January 2006, the air force had given Rs 793 crore as the benchmark rate for the choppers. 

Congress: Providing clarification on the matter, Antony, according to the Indian Express, said that the CNC was "constituted and it carried out its discussions with the vendor between September 19, 2008 and January 21, 2009". 

According to the report, Antony informed that while the CNC was conducting its discussions, "Air HQ" made recommendations for the inclusion of enhanced safety and protection features — traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS-II) and enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) for all 12 helicopters.

The report added that Antony said that the Special Protection Group and and PMO "recommended inclusion of Medevac System for eight VVIP helicopters".

Attributing the revision of costs to these additions, Antony said, "The CNC, thereafter, recommended conclusion of the contract at a negotiated price of Euro 556.262 million".

5) Tardy investigations and deliberate delays:

BJP: Targeting the Congress, Parrikar, on Wednesday, said, "It appears an 'invisible hand' was guiding the action or inaction of CBI and ED."

He accused the Congress-led UPA of delaying the probe even after the scam had broken out. "The case was handed over to CBI only after (Finmeccanica's former chief Giuseppe) Orsi was arrested," Parrikar said. 

Congress: Refuting Parrikar's claims, Antony said that it was the UPA which had acted on the "corrupt company" and cracked down on it. The then government had paid Rs 1,586 crore but recovered Rs 2,062 crore from AgustaWestland, Antony highlighted.

He added that three helicopters worth Rs 900 crore were also impounded.