AgustaWestland scam: CBI files supplementary chargesheet against former Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma

The CBI on Wednesday filed a supplementary chargesheet in Delhi's Rose Avenue court against former Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma as well as four other officials in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam.

New Delhi:The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a supplementary chargesheet in Delhi's Rose Avenue court against former Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma as well as four other officials in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam. The central agency has also taken permission from Centre to prosecute all the five accused.

Back on October 23, 2020, the court had taken cognisance of an earlier CBI chargesheet filed on September 19 the same year, which had names of Christian Michel, Rajeev Saxena, Director of AgustaWestland International G Saponaro, and Sandeep Tyagi (relative of IAF chief SP Tyagi) as accused. Sharma, at the time, was not named as an accused as the agency did not have the necessary clearance to prosecute the former Defence Secretary.

Sharma has also served as the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) in the past. Out of the four, Michel, a British national, was arrested in January 2019, and currently remains in judicial custody. The case pertains to alleged bribery to see through the AgustaWestland chopper deal after 12 VVIP choppers produced by the company were rejected by the IAF as they did not meet its 6,000-meter operational ceiling parameter set by the Air Force. Tyagi, who served as the Chief of Air Staff, had allegedly recommended bringing down the ceiling from 6,000 to 4,500 meters, making the AgustaWestland choppers valid entrants into securing the contract.

With agency inputs