India will appeal against a Milan court order barring encashment of bank guarantees in the contract for procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland that was terminated by the Defence Ministry in January on grounds of breach of the pre-contract integrity pact and the agreement by the supplier.
The decision comes a day after the Milan court on Monday admitted a plea by AgustaWestland’s parent company Finmeccanica to prevent the Indian Government from encashing bank guarantees worth over Rs.2,360 crore as a post-contract termination penalty imposed by the Defence Ministry.
“The Government of India will be filing an appeal against the order of the Italian Court in Milan in the case relating to encashment of bank guarantees in the contract for the procurement of 12 VVIP/VIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. Simultaneously, the Government will vigorously pursue all options for encashment of the bank guarantees,” said a Defence Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday.
AgustaWestland had already supplied three of the 12 helicopters to the Defence Ministry after the contract was signed in February 2010. While guarantees to the tune of Rs.240 crore held with the banks in India have already been encashed, the guarantees with the banks in Italy are yet to be impounded.
The VVIP chopper deal came under the Central Bureau of Investigation scanner in February 2013 after the Italian investigators arrested the then Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi on allegations of kickbacks to Indian officials.
After a preliminary enquiry, the agency registered a case naming retired Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, his three cousins Julie, Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi; Chief Executive Officer of Aeromatrix Info Solution Private Limited Praveen Bakshi; IDS Infotech Chairman Satish Bagrodia and its Managing Director Pratap K. Aggarwal; and advocate Gautam Khaitan. The accused persons have denied their involvement.
Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini, the former CEO of United Kingdom-based AgustaWestland, besides alleged middlemen Guido Ralph Haschke, Carlo Valentino Ferdinando Gerosa and Christian Michel were also named.
While the suspects based in India have already been examined by the CBI, the agency has gained limited access to Haschke through the Milan prosecutors. He is one among the accused persons facing trial in the case being pursued in Italy.
