Shun politicking, unravel full truth

The full truth in the AgustaWestland chopper scam runs the risk of becoming a casualty in the din generated by the furious allegations and counter-allegations traded by rival political leaders in the last few days. Half-truths may help keep the scam pot boiling forever for cynical political exploitation, but will not help reveal full truth. It is now over 3 years since investigators in Italy launched a probe into suspicions of corruption in India’s Rs 3,600 crore deal with AgustaWestland company to buy choppers for VVIP ferrying. When this became public knowledge in February 2013, the then Manmohan Singh government admitted to the possibilities of corruption and froze the deal. It announced investigations by Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate into possible corruption and money laundering.

While India is yet to make much progress in its investigations in the last 3 years, Italy has moved forward and an Italian Court of Appeals’ April 7 judgment has established corruption and money laundering in the deal. The Milan court has pronounced former chief of Finmeccanica (the Italian chopper manufacturer) Giuseppe Orsi, and former chief of the chopper wing of AgustaWestland Bruno Spagnolini guilty and punished them for bribe giving and money laundering. The two guilty have the option of appealing against the verdict in that country’s highest court. But until that happens and a final verdict is known, the truth will remain confirmed that there was corruption in the deal and that Orsi and Spagnolini had paid bribe to some Indians. Who are these Indians? The Appeals court verdict itself has concluded that Indian Air Force’s former chief, Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi and his close relatives – his relatives acted as Indian middlemen - were beneficiaries of bribe paid in cash and through wire transfers. 

But the judgment has recorded notes of foreign middlemen involved in the deal, at least 3 of them – James Christian Michel, Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. Michel’s note mentions about prominent politicians who should be approached to get the chopper contract. These include the name of “Madam Gandhi” as the “driving force.” The Italian court verdict has not drawn any conclusion about any role by Sonia or any other leader, except the conclusions it drew about the then IAF chief and his relatives. Until the investigations in India or the country proceedings in Italy conclusively establish the identities of the bribe takers, it is appropriate not to jump to conclusions. The Narendra Modi government ought to be seriously pursuing the investigations to unravel the full truth, including the identities of all the bribe takers.