Q. No. 964 CBI inquiry in Augusta Westland VVIP helicopter deal

Question: Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to satate :-

(a) whether it is a fact that the CBI is inquiring into the charges of unethical dealings by an Italian company in the sale of 12 Augusta Westland helicopters to the Ministry of Defence;

(b) whether it is also a fact that bribes were paid to Indian people including former Air Chief to win the contract and whether Government is aware that the CEO of Finmeccanica has been arrested by the Italian Government;

(c) whether it is also a fact that he has received communications from the Members of Parliament about this scam and if so, what is the action taken thereon;

(d) whether any probe has been conducted by the Ministry based on the communications from the MPs; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

Answer: Minister of Defence (Shri A.K. Antony)

(a) Yes, Sir.

(b) Following reports of the arrest of the Chief Executive of Finmeccanica in connection with the investigations in Italy regarding alleged wrong doing and unethical conduct by M/s Finmeccanica, parent company of M/s Agusta Westland, U.K., the CBI was asked on February 12, 2013 to conduct an enquiry into the matter. The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) on February 25, 2013 in this matter.

(c) to (e): While the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had received a letter dated 14th December, 2012 from Shri Prakash Javadekar, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) on the subject matter, media reports relating to alleged payment of kickbacks / bribes by M/s Finmeccanica started surfacing since February 2012. Ever since then, MoD has pursued the matter with the Embassy in Rome to get credible information regarding the status of investigation and authenticity of the documents / records being cited in various media reports. Given the independence of the Italian Judiciary from the executive and the preliminary investigations being covered by ‘Secrecy’ clause under the Italian law, no concrete information was received. The matter was also taken up, through the MEA with the U.K. Government in view of the alleged involvement of a British consultant and the fact that the contract had been signed with M/s Agusta Westland, U.K. The UK side informed MEA that they have not launched any investigation and are awaiting the results of the Italian investigation in order to ascertain whether any further action needs to be taken. MoD had, thus, taken prompt action to seek factual information from the concerned Authorities.