Agusta: CBI seeks sanction to prosecute ex-CAG

September 11, 2020 23:45

The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought sanction to prosecute former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, who later became Comptroller and Auditor General, in connection with alleged corruption in the Rs 3,600-crore Agusta Westland VVIP helicopter deal, officials said on Friday.

The agency is likely to file a supplementary charge sheet detailing the role of Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal who was deported from the UAE and is currently in judicial custody, they said.

Reacting to the development, Sharma told PTI that he underwent a heart procedure a few days back and now is under rest as advised by his doctors.

"I have a long unblemished service record of over forty years and nobody can blame me for any malafide action or decision. I strongly and firmly deny any such frivolous allegations," he said.

In its supplementary charge sheet, the Central Bureau of Investigation is also likely to give the alleged roles of some former public servants, who were holding key decision- making positions when the deal for the helicopters was being discussed, the officials said.

In order to prosecute the officers whose alleged role surfaced during investigation, the CBI has approached the Defence Ministry seeking its nod to prosecute Sharma and the then Air Vice Marshal Jasbir Singh Panesar, besides others, they said.

The officials said that Sharma was defence secretary between 2011 and 2013, before being appointed CAG.

The agency has also sought sanction to charge sheet three former Indian Air Force (IAF) officers -- deputy chief test pilot S A Kunte, wing commander Thomas Mathew and group captain N Santosh, they said, adding that Kunte and Santosh retired as air commodores.

The officials said that the sanction is pending with the Defence Ministry since March.

It is alleged that bribes were paid to make Agusta Westland eligible for the 12 VVIP chopper deal, they said.

The need for new helicopters to ferry VVIPs -- the president, the prime minister, the vice president and the defence minister -- was felt in 1999 when a proposal was moved to find an alternative to the IAF's Soviet-era Mi8s.

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