Ex Air Chief SP Tyagi, others sent to 4-day CBI custody in AgustaWestland Case

Former Air Force chief SP Tyagi who was arrested by CBI on corruption charges in AgustaWestland helicopter deal, has been sent to CBI custody for four days after he was produced in a Delhi court on Saturday.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had demanded  a ten-day remand of former Air Force chief, his cousin Sanjeev, and Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan for detailed questioning in the now scrapped Rs 3600-crore VVIP chopper deal.

ANI quoted IAF chief Arup Raha as saying, “Very unfortunate episode; Incident obviously acts adversely on reputation of a very professional force.” “Its a due process of law, whatever comes out after inquiry we will accept that,” he added.

ALSO READ: (CBI arrests former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi, 2 others in AgustaWestland case)

What are the charges on SP Tyagi?

Tyagi has been accused of abusing his official position to swing the contract in favour of Finnmeccanica, the parent company of UK-based helicopter maker AgustaWestland.  Investigators in Italy and India accused Tyagi of tailoring specifications of the tender at the instance of his cousins.

ALSO READ: (All you need to know about AgustaWestland Chopper Scam)

“It was alleged that (the then) Chief of Air Staff entered into criminal conspiracy with other accused persons and in 2005, conceded to change IAF's consistent stand that service ceiling of VVIP Helicopters 6,000m was an inescapable operational necessity and reduced the same to 4,500m,” CBI spokesperson Devpreet Singh said. Investigators also say that Air Mashal Tyagi met with a top official of Finmeccanica when he was Air Chief.

ALSO READ: (All you need to know about SP Tyagi: Former IAF chief arrested in AgustaWestland scam)