Communications and Information Technology Minster Ravishankar Prasad on Saturday said former Defence Minister AK Antony bears part of the responsibility for the AgustaWestland chopper deal, which was made by the Congress in 2010 and has since been mired in allegations of corruption. Prasad was speaking at an event in Ernakulam, Kerala, when he said “ [Prime accused] SP Tyagi retired as Air [Force] chief in 2007. The contract was given in 2010. Antony should explain who was driving this contract,” PTI reported. Antony was the Defence Minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the time.
Prasad also said Antony “had no option” but to order the Central Bureau of Investigation’s probe into the deal after the corruption allegations surfaced in 2013, while the UPA was still in power. Prasad added that despite the CBI’s involvement, there were irregularities in the how the investigations were carried out.
The AgustaWestland helicopter deal was an agreement made in 2010, when the UPA government was to buy 12 helicopters from the British-Italian firm for around Rs 3,600-crore. The deal was put on hold after Italy arrested the head of Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland, on charges that its officials paid bribes worth Rs 423 crore to win the contract.
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