Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh has said that he did not believe that former Defence Minister A.K. Antony was involved in the malpractices in the AgustaWestland chopper deal.
Speaking to media persons here on Sunday, Mr. Singh, a former Army chief, said: ”He may be honest. If you allow people around you to eat, it is equivalent to participating in corruption.”
Making it clear that he did not want to add to what Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said in the case, Mr. Singh said the facts were very clear. The deal involved cheating and commission taking. Specifications changed so that only one brand would fit in and the venue for trials was changed.
“No body believes only Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi was involved in the deal. The CBI inquiry must examine everybody, whosoever he or she may be,” he said. He wanted the investigation to unearth the money. ‘‘Still we do not know where the money has gone. If the Milan Court can do it, why can’t we?” he asked.
To a question, he said there had been no confirmation about the condition of Tom Uzhunnalil, the Catholic priest who was abducted from Yemen. Same was the situation of the 40 people from Punjab. Even now people were going to Yemen via Dubai and Jordan.
Caution urged
Mr. Singh had a word of caution to the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in strife-torn countries. “We have evacuated more than 5,400 people from these countries and have asked others to leave before things get out of control. But many of them refuse and trust in God.”
However, things are getting worse. He wanted the people to follow government warnings in such cases.
