Chopper scam: Ex-IAF chief blames Manmohan Singh's office for irregularities

New Delhi: Former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief S P Tyagi, who was arrested in AgustaWestland choppers case, blamed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office for irregularities in the Rs 3,600 crore deal.

“Procurement of chopper deal was a collective decision,” SP Tyagi's counsel told a Delhi court on Saturday, asserting that Tyagi alone cannot be blamed for the deal and that it was Manmohan Singh's office that made changes in the deal to favour AgustaWestland.

“Choppers were meant for VVIPs. Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) suggested the change of service ceiling (6000 metres). How many times did VVIPs visit Siachen?,” the counsel asked in court.

Tyagi and other accused in the case were sent to CBI remand till December 14 by the Delhi Court.

Tyagi, who retired in 2007, was questioned by the CBI extensively in the past in this case. Along with Tyagi, his cousin Sanjiv alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan were also arrested on Friday.

On January 1, 2014, India had scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

CBI had also got issued Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to multiple countries to gather more leads and evidences in this case.