New Delhi:
The CBI, which has charged former air force chief SP Tyagi with corruption and conspiracy in the VVIP chopper deal, has said in its First Information Report (FIR) that he and his three cousins were bribed 4,26,000 euros or Rs 2.98 crore to swing the contract for AugustaWestland. The FIR mentions as evidence a letter written by the retired air chief marshal in 2005, in which he allegedly approved scaling down the flying height of the helicopters from 18,000 feet to 15,000 feet.
NDTV has details of the FIR that makes a case for bribery and corruption against former air chief Tyagi through his cousins Juli, Dosca and Sanjeev Tyagi. The FIR attempts to go beyond Italy's investigation and trace the money trail in India.
While the Italians suggested that the Tyagi family was paid 100,000 euros or Rs 70 lakh in cash for the 12-helicopter deal, the CBI claims almost half a million euros were paid to the Tyagi brothers.
The CBI says it has tracked two payments, one of 1,26,000 euros or over Rs 88 lakh over between August and October in 2004 and another of 200,000 euros or Rs 1.4 crore in February 2005. This is in addition to the 100,000 euros in cash that, according to the CBI, the Tyagis got to influence the deal for Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland.
Former air force chief Tyagi and his brothers have denied wrongdoing in the chopper deal. But a senior CBI official told NDTV on condition of anonymity, "They say they were paid 200,000 euros as an advance payment for their consultancy services, but that doesn't happen anywhere in the world."
The FIR notes this payment as circumstantial evidence against former air chief Tyagi. While the payment of 200,000 euros was made before he took over as air force chief, the CBI says Tyagi's elevation to the post was confirmed by June-July 2004 and his cousins were negotiating with alleged middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke on his behalf much before he formally took office.
The CBI, like the Italian probe, notes that no money trail is directly linked to former air chief Tyagi yet and quotes only the Italian report in saying that "some unquantified amount has been given to SP Tyagi".
As its main evidence, the CBI says it has former air chief Tyagi's letter of March 8, 2005, written just three months after he formally took over.
The CBI says the letter, for the first time, gives the air force's approval to a flying height of 15000 feet for the helicopters. The CBI says that until then, the air force had been insisting that the helicopters should be able to fly at 18000 feet. The FIR quotes two letters from the air force in January 2004 and November 2004 to the Prime Minister's Office and the defence ministry.
The CBI says that with former air chief Tyagi's approval for 15000 feet, AgustaWestland became eligible as the air force's word was final.
This is contrary to earlier reports suggesting that Brajesh Mishra, national security advisor in the BJP-led NDA government, had asked for changes in the altitude requirements so that a single vendor situation wouldn't arise. However, the only other contender was Eurocopter, which met all the specifications but was rejected by the Special Protection Group, which looks after the security of VVIPs like the Prime Minister.
"This letter and the money transaction at that time forms the circumstantial evidence against the former air chief,'' said a senior CBI official. He however adds that the agency will have to probe why the Prime Minister's Office in 2003 had also written approving 15000 feet as an acceptable flying height for the helicopters.