Agusta Westland Case: 4 Air Force Officers Got Bail
Agusta Westland Case: 4 Air Force officers got bail in the Agusta Westland corruption case, the next hearing is on August 27.
A special court on Saturday granted bail to four former Indian Air Force (IAF) officers in the AgustaWestland Chopper deal corruption case.
He appeared on the summon issued by the court on the last date of the hearing.
Special CBI judge Arvind Kumar granted bail to retired IAF AVM JS Panesar, retired Air Commodore N Santhosh, retired Air Commodore SA Kunte, and retired Wing Commander Thomas Mathew.
The court granted bail to each of them on furnishing a surety of one lakh rupees and one surety of like amount. While granting bail, the court has imposed certain conditions on the accused.
He was not arrested by the CBI and was summoned by the court after taking cognizance of the allegation.
The special CBI prosecutor did not oppose his bail. The matter has now been listed for further hearing on August 27.
Former CAG Shashikant Sharma also got bail.
On the last date of the hearing, the court had granted bail to former Defense Secretary and former CAG Shashikant Sharma in this case.
Sharma was admitted on bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh (Rs two lakh) and a surety of like amount.
Advocates RK Handu and Aditya Choudhary, appearing for Shashi Kant Sharma, submitted that he is a retired IAS officer.
He served as Defense Secretary to the Government of India till May 2013 and thereafter from 2013 to September 2017, served a constitutional post as Comptroller and Auditor General.
The lawyers had further submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case and has nothing to do with the offenses alleged in the charge sheet.
It was also submitted that the applicant had cooperated in the investigation and appeared before the CBI.
It was submitted that the applicant is a pensioner and income tax payer and is of the age of 69 years and suffering from old age-related ailments.
It was submitted that the applicant had suffered a heart attack and has undergone stenting and is still being treated by a cardiologist.
Former Defense Secretary Shashikant Sharma had appeared in the court after summons were issued against him in the court.
Taking cognizance of the charge sheet, the court directed all the accused to appear on April 28, 2022.
Earlier, the court was informed that it has got a prosecution sanction against Shashikant Sharma.
Earlier, the CBI had sought the government’s approval to prosecute former Defense Secretary and CAG Shashikant Sharma for alleged irregularities in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper deal.
CBI and ED are probing the AgustaWestland case.
Earlier, the CBI had filed a charge sheet in September 2020 against 15 accused, including individuals and private companies, in a case related to the award of a contract to a UK-based company for the supply of 12 VVIP helicopters.
The Agusta Westland case is a corruption case that is being investigated by the CBI and the ED.
It is alleged that “middlemen”, perhaps even politicians, were bribed during the UPA regime when India agreed to buy 12 AgustaWestland helicopters.
These helicopters, are manufactured by an Italian defense manufacturing company Finmeccanica at an estimated cost of Rs 3,600 crore. Later in 2014, the said deal was canceled by the NDA government.
