Former Air Chief SP Tyagi is named in Italian court order on AgustaWestland chopper deal
Highlights
- He "committed an act contrary to his official duties", says Italian Court
- Accused of tailoring specifications to favour AgustaWestland
- AgustaWestland landed deal to sell 12 helicopters to India
An Italian court has made scathing references to former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi in its order on the 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal and said he "committed an act contrary to his official duties".
The 225-page order of the Italian Court of Appeals says that payoffs were made to Indian officials and there are "unmistakable indications regarding corruption of an Indian officer" - identified as the cousin of the Tyagi brothers, which implies the former air chief.
The Italian court says companies owned by alleged middleman Christian Michel "promised and effectively paid via the brothers Julie, Doscs and Sandeep Tyagi a sum of money not exactly quantified in the entire operation to Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, head of the Indian Air Force from 2004-2007. He is a public officer, a person who has an activity which corresponds to a high official who works for the Indian state. [He] committed an act contrary to his official duties."
Retired Air Chief Marshal Tyagi headed the Air Force from 2004 to 2007. He is accused of tailoring specifications to favour AgustaWestland in the deal for 12 choppers to be supplied to India for use by top leaders like the president and the prime minister. Investigators allege that middlemen like Michel and Guido Haschke, hired by Agusta and its parent company Finmeccanica, connected with his cousins.
"Can we seriously think that Julie Tyagi could have taken such an initiative and formulated such a proposal for Guido Hashke and Carlo Gerosa without having had a previous agreement with all the members of the family and above all of Shashi Tyagi (the former air chief)? (Shashi Tyagi) was the real trump who would give support to the entire family," the Italian court says.
In a more damning observation, the court talks about Shashi Tyagi's meeting with an Agusta representative in 2007 - "The participation of the head of the IAF 'at a private meeting' with an official representative of Agusta Westland is conclusive behaviour. It is unequivocal and concretely indicative of Tyagi's availability towards the representative of Agusta Westland."
Investigators have said that middlemen paid nearly 30 million euros in bribes to Indian officials and politicians.