VVIP chopper case: CBI seeks sanction to prosecute former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma
New Delhi: The CBI has sought sanction to prosecute former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, who later became Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), 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 (CBI) 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.
Agusta Westland's helicopters did not meet the 6,000 meters ceiling parameter of the IAF.
The then IAF chief S P Tyagi played a role in recommending reduction in operational ceiling of the helicopters from 6,000 meters to 4,500 meters which brought Agusta Westland in the race, the CBI has alleged.
The IAF was strongly opposed to the changes but when Tyagi became the chief, he recommended the changes, the agency alleged.
This, according to the CBI, was allegedly done at the behest of Finmeccanica and Agusta Westland top executives who engaged the services of three middlemen-- Michel, Guido Haschke and Carlos Gerosa -- who allegedly paid bribes to Tyagi and his cousins Rajiv, Sandeep and Julie.
The agency has alleged that Michel's firms received about 42.27 million euros, approximately seven per cent, from the companies to swing the Rs 3,600 crore deal in their favour.
The bribes were allegedly routed through companies of Michel and an advocate, Gautam Khaitan, in the form of multiple contracts through layered transactions to camouflage them.
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Hospital wall collapse: CM orders suspension of executive engineer; kin of victims get solatium
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of an executive engineer for the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital wall collapse that claimed the lives of seven people, during a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha.
A compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as announced by the CM Siddaramaiah, was distributed to the families of seven victims who lost their lives in the tragedy on Wednesday evening, which occurred due to heavy downpour with gusty winds and hailstorm.
The meeting of municipal commissioners of the five corporations, chaired by the chief minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, focused on fixing accountability and examining lapses that led to the tragedy.
"Why was soil dumped in a way that damaged the wall? Why did you not monitor this?" Siddaramaiah asked, pulling up hospital authorities during the meeting.
A statement from the chief minister's office said that the CM ordered the immediate suspension of the executive engineer of the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP).
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He also questioned the hospital authorities, asking why they failed to monitor the dumping of soil that weakened the structure.
The chief minister directed that a notice be issued to the head of the Hospital.
During the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the rains had caused extensive damage in the city, with over 250 trees uprooted.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to take necessary measures before the onset of the monsoon to avoid untoward incidents.
Commissioners of all five municipal zones in Bengaluru have been asked to take precautionary steps, including trimming dry and dangerous tree branches, the CMO said.
Siddaramaiah also directed them to get the silt cleared from stormwater drains to prevent flooding, and that immediate action be taken to remove debris and fallen branches from roads.
Further, he instructed that barricades be placed at underpasses where water stagnates and restricts public movement.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said in a statement that Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad distributed compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on Thursday.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed amid heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
Police said the victims, comprising three from Bengaluru, two from Kerala on a study tour and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Assam, had taken shelter near the wall when it suddenly gave way, trapping them under the debris.
The chief minister questioned officials over the dumping of soil near the wall despite knowing it could weaken the structure, and directed that a notice be issued to the head of Bowring Hospital.
Siddaramaiah, who had visited the spot soon after the incident along with senior officials, reviewed the situation and ordered a detailed probe into the collapse.
