Delhi court grants bail to Shashi Kant Sharma
A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to Ex-Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, in connection with a case related to alleged corruption in the Rs.3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.
The Agusta Westland case is a corruption case that is being probed by CBI and ED. It has been alleged that bribes were paid during UPA Regime to “middlemen”, perhaps even politicians, when India agreed to buy 12 AgustaWestland helicopters built by Italian defense manufacturing Company Finmeccanica at an estimated cost of Rs.3,600 crore.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar took note of the CBI’s submission, in which the probe agency counsel said it had no objection to granting the bail to the former bureaucrat. Sharma was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs.2 lakh, with one surety in the like amount.
Earlier this month, a special court had taken cognizance of the CBI’s supplementary charge sheet filed in the AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam against ex-Defence Secretary and CAG Shashi Kant Sharma, and four retired officials of the Indian Air Force.
Advocates RK Handoo and Aditya Chaudhary, appearing for Shashi Kant Sharma, submitted that he is a retired IAS Officer and served as the Defence Secretary to the Government of India till May 2013, and thereafter from 2013 to September 2017, as the Controller and Auditor General of India, a constitutional post of the Government of India and is presently leading a retired life.
On September 19, 2020, the CBI, had filed a supplementary charge sheet against 15 accused, including alleged middleman Christian Michel and accused-turned-approver Rajiv Saxena, in connection with the alleged corruption in the VVIP chopper deal. The CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet in this case on September 1, 2017, against the then IAF chief S P Tyagi and 11 other accused.
On January 1, 2014, India canceled the contract with Finmeccanica‘s British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over an alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs.423 crore.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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