<p>In a fresh development in the scam-tainted VVIP chopper deal, lawyers of AgustaWestland have reportedly told an Italian court that its parent company Finmeccanica had hosted the then IAF chief F H Major in 2007, a period when the bidders were being shortlisted.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The lawyers of the Anglo-Italian firm also told the court in Busto Arsizio that there was no meeting between Italian officials and the other former IAF chief S P Tyagi, who is named in a CBI FIR in the chopper scam in India, according to reports in the Italian media.<br /><br />A former AgustaWestland official James Saporito had claimed during the last hearing on February 4 that he had hosted Tyagi during one of his visits to that country.<br /><br />The lawyers reportedly said Saporito seemed to be confused over the identity of the person with whom he had had dinner while he was working with the company.<br /><br />According to the reports, the lawyers of the firm also shared pictures of Major along with the company officials at a dinner hosted by the firm.<br /><br />Reacting to the report, Major said he had visited Finmeccanica in 2007 during an official trip to Italy and the company had hosted him, along with his delegation members, for a dinner.<br /><br />He said his visit had been approved by the government and programme chalked out by by officials concerned as well as the Indian Embassy in Italy.<br /><br />"It was not for my personal requirement but for the delegation which was visiting the country," he told a TV channel.<br /><br />Significantly, the trials of the choppers were held after Major took over from Tyagi on April one, 2007.<br /><br />The CAG, while auditing the deal, had observed that the trials of the AgustaWestland helicopters were conducted abroad and not in India and had questioned Major's justification in this regard.<br /><br />The trials for the AgustaWestland model were conducted on representative Merlin helicopters and not on the actual craft whereas the other contender, Sikorsky, had offered its S-92 for try-outs, the CAG had said.<br /><br />"Even at the stage of trials, the AgustaWestland chopper was in a developmental phase. Evaluation of helicopter following different methodologies could not give desired assurance that equal opportunity was provided to both shortlisted vendors.<br /><br />"Thus, the recommendation and assurance given by the Chief of Air Staff in October 2007 to conduct trials abroad lacked justification," the government auditor had said.</p>
<p>In a fresh development in the scam-tainted VVIP chopper deal, lawyers of AgustaWestland have reportedly told an Italian court that its parent company Finmeccanica had hosted the then IAF chief F H Major in 2007, a period when the bidders were being shortlisted.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The lawyers of the Anglo-Italian firm also told the court in Busto Arsizio that there was no meeting between Italian officials and the other former IAF chief S P Tyagi, who is named in a CBI FIR in the chopper scam in India, according to reports in the Italian media.<br /><br />A former AgustaWestland official James Saporito had claimed during the last hearing on February 4 that he had hosted Tyagi during one of his visits to that country.<br /><br />The lawyers reportedly said Saporito seemed to be confused over the identity of the person with whom he had had dinner while he was working with the company.<br /><br />According to the reports, the lawyers of the firm also shared pictures of Major along with the company officials at a dinner hosted by the firm.<br /><br />Reacting to the report, Major said he had visited Finmeccanica in 2007 during an official trip to Italy and the company had hosted him, along with his delegation members, for a dinner.<br /><br />He said his visit had been approved by the government and programme chalked out by by officials concerned as well as the Indian Embassy in Italy.<br /><br />"It was not for my personal requirement but for the delegation which was visiting the country," he told a TV channel.<br /><br />Significantly, the trials of the choppers were held after Major took over from Tyagi on April one, 2007.<br /><br />The CAG, while auditing the deal, had observed that the trials of the AgustaWestland helicopters were conducted abroad and not in India and had questioned Major's justification in this regard.<br /><br />The trials for the AgustaWestland model were conducted on representative Merlin helicopters and not on the actual craft whereas the other contender, Sikorsky, had offered its S-92 for try-outs, the CAG had said.<br /><br />"Even at the stage of trials, the AgustaWestland chopper was in a developmental phase. Evaluation of helicopter following different methodologies could not give desired assurance that equal opportunity was provided to both shortlisted vendors.<br /><br />"Thus, the recommendation and assurance given by the Chief of Air Staff in October 2007 to conduct trials abroad lacked justification," the government auditor had said.</p>