President Pranab Mukherjee enjoys constitutional immunity and may not be probed by the CBI over the murky Chopper deal.
NEW DELHI: In what has turned out to be a major embarrassment for the UPA government, President Pranab Mukherjee has been named in its factsheet on the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, as he was the finance minister of the country in 2005 when the deal was finalised.
Mukherjee, however, enjoys constitutional immunity and may not be probed by the CBI over the murky Chopper deal.
Barring Mukherjee, two more key decision makers in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal were Bharat Vir Wanchoo and MK Narayanan, who are now Governors of Goa and West Bengal respectively but they too, owing to the office they hold, enjoy constitutional immunity.
Wanchoo was the director of the Special Protection Group (SPG) while Narayanan was the National Security Advisor then.
In India, where national elections are due next year, the oppositionBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lambasted the Congress-led government for not acting sooner over the allegations.
An internal defence ministry investigation last year found no foul play in the purchase of the helicopters, destined for use by India's political elite.
Critics say the government did too little to follow up later media disclosures that the Italian investigation linked India's former air chief S.P. "Shashi" Tyagi and three of his cousins to the alleged bribery. Tyagi denies any wrongdoing.
On Feb 14, one of the cousins, Sanjeev "Julie" Tyagi, denied allegations in the Italian arrest warrant that he had taken 100,000 euros in cash bribes and introduced company representatives to the air chief on several occasions to discuss the helicopter deal. (With inputs from Agencis)
Mukherjee, however, enjoys constitutional immunity and may not be probed by the CBI over the murky Chopper deal.
Barring Mukherjee, two more key decision makers in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal were Bharat Vir Wanchoo and MK Narayanan, who are now Governors of Goa and West Bengal respectively but they too, owing to the office they hold, enjoy constitutional immunity.
Wanchoo was the director of the Special Protection Group (SPG) while Narayanan was the National Security Advisor then.
In India, where national elections are due next year, the oppositionBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lambasted the Congress-led government for not acting sooner over the allegations.
An internal defence ministry investigation last year found no foul play in the purchase of the helicopters, destined for use by India's political elite.
Critics say the government did too little to follow up later media disclosures that the Italian investigation linked India's former air chief S.P. "Shashi" Tyagi and three of his cousins to the alleged bribery. Tyagi denies any wrongdoing.
On Feb 14, one of the cousins, Sanjeev "Julie" Tyagi, denied allegations in the Italian arrest warrant that he had taken 100,000 euros in cash bribes and introduced company representatives to the air chief on several occasions to discuss the helicopter deal. (With inputs from Agencis)
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