File pic: Congress leader Ahmed Patel
An Italian public prosecutor on Thursday asked in court whether the initials 'AP' appearing in the notes of a middleman accused of paying bribes to push the controversial AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal was a reference to senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel. Guido Haschke, the alleged middleman, replied that he did not know who or what AP stood for. He also said he had no idea who Mr Patel was and that he had never had a meeting with him.
Public prosecutor Eugenio Fusco had also circulated a photograph of Ahmed Patel with Sonia Gandhi in the courtroom. Mr Patel is Mrs Gandhi's political advisor.
Mr Haschke, who is a key player in the multimillion dollar chopper deal, said he 'didn't know' as the documents in which the initials 'AP' appeared belonged to Christian Michel, another alleged middleman. He also denied that he paid any bribes to anyone in the Indian military to secure defence contracts.
The BJP today demanded a response from the Congress-led government. "Government must clear its stand, what the Italian prosecutor said and what is Government's take on this," said the party's spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
India this month cancelled the controversial Rs. 3,600-crore contract for 12 helicopters meant for VVIPs with the UK-based AgustaWestland amid allegations that deal was riddled with kickbacks paid to Indian officials including former Air Chief SP Tyagi.
An Indian team including CBI and defence ministry officials was present in the courtroom for the first time, and also put up questions to Mr. Hascke through their lawyer.
Guido Hascke, an American-born Swiss citizen, was also questioned by the legal team of Giuseppe Orsi, the former CEO of AgustaWestland's Italian parent Finmeccanica, whose arrested uncovered the chopper deal scandal. The next hearing will be held on January 23.
The Italian prosecutor who conducted the preliminary inquiry in the case has alleged that Finmeccanica had used the services of middlemen like Haschke to bribe Indian officials.