Former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi was arrested on Friday Dec 09,2016 over alleged irregularities in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal worth 3,700 crores.
He was arrested along with his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan after hours of questioning.
Timeline of the case:
August 1999 - The Indian Air Force (IAF), which is responsible for carrying out VVIP communication duties, proposes replacement of Mi-8 helicopters due to operational constraints.
March 2002 - A global request for proposals issued.
November, 2003 - Concerns were raised on single-vendor situation in a meeting taken by Atal Bihari Vajpayee's PMO. A few recommendations were also made to change some requirements to accomodate more vendors.
March, 2005 - IAF changes crucial requirements in the chopper acquistion, including altitude requirement that qualifies Agustawestland to complete.
September, 2006 - With consulation from Manmohan Singh's PMO tenders were issued to six vendors. Requirement of choppers was also revised upwards from 8 to 12.
January 2010 - The Cabinet Committee on Security clears proposal to acquire 12 helicopters for use of VVIPs after a long process that involved change in some parameters, evaluations and and negotiations.
February, 2010 - Ministry of defence (MoD) concludes contract for supply of 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters with Britain's AgustaWestland.
February 2012 - Media reports about allegations of unethical dealings in helicopter procurement appear. MOD seeks factual report from Indian embassy in Rome.
February, 2013 - Italian Police arrest Giuseppe Orsi, CEO of Finmeccanica, parent company of AgustaWestland, as part of bribery investigations into the chopper deal.
February, 2013 - MOD initiates action for cancellation of contract and puts on hold payments to company. Issues a formal show cause notice to AgustaWestland seeking cancellation of contract and taking other actions as per the terms of the contract and the integrity pact. Investigation handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
February, 2013 - CBI registers a preliminary enquiry (PE) against 11 people, including former IAF chief SP Tyagi, and four companies.
March, 2013 - CBI registers a first information report (FIR) against Tyagi and 12 others for alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating in the chopper deal.
November 2013 - AgustaWestland officials meet MoD officials to present their case. The company nominates Justice BN Srikrishna for arbitration. It submits its reply to the final show cause notice before Nov 26 deadline.
January, 2014 - The Indian government terminates the agreement on grounds of breach of the Pre-contract Integrity Pact (PCIP) and agreement by AgustaWestland.
September, 2014: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrests businessman Gautam Khaitan on allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.
October, 2014: An Italian court acquits former chairman of AgustaWestland Mr Orsi and former AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini. Sentenced to a 2-year jail term on the false accounting charge.
April 7, 2016: Mr Orsi sentenced to 4.5 years in jail for false accounting and corruption by an Italian court. Bruno Spagnolini was also handed a four-year jail term on the same charges. The court also decided to confiscate belongings of the two men worth 7.5 milion euros ($8.5 million).
April 27, 2016: Christian James Michel, the middleman in the AgustaWestland deal, tells CNN News18 he is willing to come to India to face the authorities. He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene. In his letter to Modi, he claimed that he is willing to share evidence related to the AgustaWestland case with the investigating agencies.
He denied reports of him and his father being close to the Gandhi family.
May 2, 2016: CBI begins grilling former Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi over his alleged links with middlemen.
December 9, 2016: SP Tyagi, his cousin Sanjiv alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan arrested by the CBI on corruption charges.
- The former air chief has been repeatedly questioned on the deal with UK-based helicopter maker AgustaWestland, in which kickbacks were allegedly paid to Indian officials and politicians to influence the contract for a dozen VVIP choppers for the President, Prime Minister and other top leaders of the country.
- Retired Air Marshal Tyagi is accused by investigators in Italy and India of helping AgustaWestland win the chopper contract by tailoring specifications at the instance of his cousins.
- Investigations have revealed that the Tyagis entered into a consultancy deal with middlemen in 2004, when Air Marshal Tyagi's cousins were certain that he would be the next air force chief and in a position to influence the deal.
- The CBI had earlier registered a case against the former air chief and 18 others including his cousins and the European middlemen.
- Investigators say there is evidence that Air Mashal Tyagi met with a top official of Agusta's parent company Finmeccanica when he was Air Chief.
- The specific allegation against the former air chief is that he reduced the required flying height for VVIP choppers from 6,000 m to 4,500 m, which helped AgustaWestland qualify.
- The former air chief has said that the change of specifications was a collective decision involving many departments concerned.
- The CBI says payments were made through Tunisia-registered companies controlled by Switzerland-based intermediaries Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa and transferred to accounts in India and Mauritius.
- SP Tyagi was Air Chief Marshall from 2004-2007 and allegedly paid by middlemen via his cousins, Julie, Sandeep and Dosca Tyagi.
- Three helicopters had been delivered to India before the deal was stalled in February.
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