Adityanath alleges Congress leaders got Rs 150 cr bribe in AgustaWestland deal
Lucknow, Dec 31: Attacking Congress over the AgustaWestland deal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday alleged the party leaders had got Rs 150 crore bribe for the helicopters purchase transaction during the previous UPA regime.
He also alleged that the Congress party was party to multiple scams and it had played with the security of the country and its citizens.
Addressing a hurriedly-convened press conference here, Adityanath claimed the Rs 3,700 crore AgustaWestland deal during the UPA regime involved a bribery of around Rs 360 crore, out of which the Congress leaders got Rs 150 crore.
However, he did not elaborate on his claims.
The ruling BJP has stepped up its attack on the main opposition party and its leaders in the wake of the alleged reference made by Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland deal, about one "Mrs Gandhi", as told by the Enforcement Directorate to a court.
The Congress has, however, rejected the allegations and has counter-alleged that it was the Modi government that was a "protector, benefactor and promoter" of AgustaWestland as it lifted a ban imposed on the helicopter maker during the UPA rule and allowed it to bid for 100 naval utility helicopters.
The Congress has also said it will get the matter probed if it comes back to power in 2019.
Address a press conference in the national capital, former defence minister and senior Congress leader A K Antony Monday accused the BJP and the government of "manufacturing" lies in the AgustaWestland case and said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi never interfered in any defence deals during the UPA regime.
At his press conference, Adityanath alleged the Congress did not leave any sector between 2004 and 2014 where it did not commit a scam, "be it jal (water), thal (earth), nabh (sky), antariksh (space) and pataal (underground)."
"In this context, Christian Michel taking the name of 'Mrs Gandhi' proves that Congress is fully involved in this (scam)," he said.
The UP chief minister said officials of AgustaWestland have already been punished by an Italian court.
"The court had also said that other accused persons linked to the case are residing out of Italy, and hence it cannot do anything. After all, who are are those people. The surfacing of Mrs Gandhi's name itself proves the involvement of Congress leaders," he claimed.
"This is the reason as to why the Congress is nervous," Adityanath said, while alleging that the party has been committing scams in the name of defence deals but it has got "unmasked" in the AgustaWestland case.
He further alleged that the country's defence needs would not have got impacted if the Congress did not indulge in bribery in defence deals.
"Congress president Rahul Gandhi must apologise before the country. The truth is emerging before the people and they will punish the Congress," Adityanath said.
Antony, however, accused the ruling party of indulging in vendetta politics without any iota of truth.
He also said it was the Congress-led UPA government that had ordered a CBI inquiry the moment it came to know of corruption allegations in the VVIP AgustaWestland helicopter deal and had initiated proceedings to blacklist the company.
Antony claimed that the UPA government fought the case "unusually" in a Milan court against the chopper-making company and won it too.
"We cancelled the contract and started proceedings of blacklisting. But after we left, the Modi government did nothing against AgustaWestland. Instead of acting against the company, they favoured the company," he said.
The senior Congress leader alleged that the government and the BJP were trying to divert attention from the allegations raised by his party on the Rafale fighter jet deal and were not initiating an inquiry into the matter or a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the charges.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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