CBI books Rolls-Royce over bribes to HAL, Gail officials

New Delhi: The CBI on Tuesday filed a corruption case London-based Rolls Royce and its Indian subsidiary for allegedly engaging the services of an agent to get contracts from public sector companies in India, including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Gail.

The action comes after a five-year long inquiry by the agency, initiated on the basis of a complaint from the defence ministry which had itself received a complaint about the  engagement of Singapore-based Ashok Patni and his company Aashmore Pvt Ltd by Rolls Royce, sources said. The inquiry was launched on the basis of a letter to the defence ministry about the arrangement of Rolls Royce with Patni which was forwarded to the CBI for a probe. Rolls Royce, its Indian subsidiary, Patni, his company and Mumbai-based Turbotech Energy Services International Pvt Ltd besides unidentified officials of HAL, ONGC and Gail have been booked by the CBI for criminal conspiracy and bribery, they said.

There are allegations that the total business of HAL with the Rolls Royce was around Rs 4,700 crore between 2000 to 2013. It is alleged that Rolls Royce paid Rs 18 crore to Patni as “commercial advisor” in 100 supply orders of Avon and Allison Engines spare parts to HAL between 2007-11, they said. The agency alleged that Patni was also engaged in direct contracts of Rolls Royce with ONGC and Gail for the supply of spare parts.

Although contracts with ONGC and Gail allowed services of agent, it was mandatory to declare the name at the time of bidding, a condition violated by Rolls Royce, sources said. The company declared the name of its agent to the oil and gas sector behemoths in 2013 violating the condition of declaring at the time of bidding, the agency alleged.