VVIP choppers scam: CBI to quiz Tata Group chief Vijay Singh
Former Defence Secretary Vijay Singh was accused of playing a key role' in the multi-crore deal.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will question Tata Group director Vijay Singh in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal case, just days after the group's ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry accused him of playing a key role in the Rs 3,600 crore scam.
According to an Indian Express report, the CBI is going to quiz Vijay Singh, who was the Defence Secretary when the deal transpired, and Shashi Kant Sharma, the current Comptroller and Auditor General of India in the case.
Singh was reportedly under CBI scanner for his alleged role and the agency may even question officers who were part of Manmohan Singh’s office when he was the Prime Minister.
The former Defence Secretary had however vehemently denied having any role in the chopper deal and claimed that the deal was struck after he had retired from the government post.
"I was defence secretary from 2007-2009 and the present cases being prosecuted by CBI pertain to 2004-2005. The Augusta Westland acquisition was approved by the Cabinet well after my retirement," he said in an emailed statement. Singh in one of the directors of the Tata group.
Earlier on Sunday, Mistry had alleged: "As Defence Secretary, Singh was a key official involved in award of Rs 3600 crore VVIP helicopter contract to AugustaWestland in 2010".
"To connect me with this matter is slanderous and malicious," Singh, an independent director on Tata Sons board, said.