JOIN USAgustaWestland invokes arbitration clause
Facing threat of cancellation of its deal, AgustaWestland on Wednesday invoked the arbitration clause in the Rs 3,600-crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force and nominated retired Supreme Court Judge B N Srikrishna on its behalf.
A team of the Anglo-Italian firm met Defence Ministry officials to present its case in the chopper scam and denied any wrongdoing on its behalf.
After the meeting, the company issued a statement saying it has nominated former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna for arbitration with the Defence Ministry.
The ministry had in the past taken a stand against arbitration clause saying it does not apply to the pre-contract integrity pact which is signed by the ministry with its vendors.
The officials of AgustaWestland including its top executives here denied any wrong doing on the part of the firm in the chopper deal, defence officials said.
The Defence Ministry was represented by Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) Upamanyu Chatterjee along with other officials at the meeting, they said.
Earlier in the day, the firm had said in a statement: “AgustaWestland denies all allegations of violation of the pre-contract integrity pact and the contract. We will deliv
er the formal written response to the exceptions raised by the Indian Defence Ministry.”
The firm’s denial on the issue comes after Defence Minister A K Antony’s assertion that the firm had violated contractual obligations, for which the government had initiated action against it.
There are allegations that over Rs 300-crore in kickbacks were paid to Indian agents for securing the deal in the company’s favour.
The Anglo-Italian firm has already been issued the final show-cause notice for cancellation of the deal and it has time till November 26 to reply to the same.
The show-cause notice was issued by the Defence Ministry on October 21 in which it had given 21 days, that is till November 11, to the firm to submit its response. But, AgustaWestland had sought a meeting with the Ministry and obtained 15 days’ more time to reply to the notice.
In the notice, the ministry had asked AgustaWestland to explain why “all or any action as prescribed, including cancellation of the contract, should not be taken against them for violating the terms of the pre-integrity pact and the contract for procurement of 12 VVIP choppers”.