An Italian appeals court in Milan on Saturday said that it found no evidence of corruption in the scrapped Rs. 3,546-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal between AgustaWestland and India for 12 VVIP helicopters.
According to news agency Reuters, in the 322-page judgement, the court said: “There is, conclusively, no evidence of the corrective agreement stipulated according to the imputation, with the foreign public official, just as it requires the incriminating law …”
In January 2018, the Milan court also acquitted Giuseppe Orsi, the former president of Finmeccanica, and Bruno Spagnolini, the former CEO of the AgustaWestland helicopter unit in connection with the case.
The case
In 2010, a contract was signed by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers for use by top leaders, including President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers.
On January 1, 2014, the contract was scrapped amid allegations that parent company of the supplier AgustaWestland, Finmeccanica, had paid Rs 423 crore in kickbacks in India as part of the deal.
Investigations in India
In 2016, former Air Chief SP Tyagi was arrested over allegations that he accepted bribes to tailor specifications at the instance of his cousins.
In July 2018, the Congress party alleged that Christian Michel, the British middleman in the chopper deal, was being forced to frame UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in return for exoneration from criminal proceedings. The party slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using probe agencies to carry out a smear campaign against opposition leaders.
Also read: Agusta Westland Accused Being Forced To Sign A False Confession Against Sonia Gandhi