The whole country, it seems, is engulfed in the discussion on the controversial corruption involved in the Augusta Westland VVIP helicopter deal. Opinions are flying thick and fast, albeit colored, with the political dispensation one belongs to.
However it is the duty of the Government of the day to place the truth in front of the people of the country who are supposed to be the master of democratic India. But, alas, the government lead by NDA, instead of placing the complete facts in front of the people of India, has involved itself in smear campaign of its political opponents. This is not only sad but also detrimental to the delivery of justice in public interest. The government should concentrate all its effort to expedite the three year old investigation in to the deal by CBI, bare open the TRUTH of the matter and lay open all documents in front of the nation, if their intentions are to bring the guilty to book. The actions or inactions by the present dispensation at centre lead by NDA do not give that confidence to the public in general.
Let us see the facts as they are available in public domain so far without a jaundiced eye.
The need for the VVIP helicopters was felt first by the government in 1997 lead by NDA under the PM Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The then Secretary PMO late Shri Brajesh Mishra suggested decrease in the altimeter from 6000mtrs to 4500 metres which facilitated Augusta Westland to enter the competition which was nowhere in the picture earlier. Many a meetings and deliberations took place between 1999 to 2010 at the PMO office chaired by many including the Cabinet Secretary, NSA, Defence Procurement committee etc., when finally the order was placed on Augusta Westland for 12 helicopters each costing Rs300 crores.
Even though the helicopter was not a defence requirement the Indian Air Force was involved in certifying the safety requirements which it appears caved in to the demands of bureaucracy and political masters in the instant case. May be considerations were also involved in tweaking the safety height requirements of the VVIP chopper to suit Augusta Westland helicopter which even the President of USA considered very expensive.
It is very much Indian culture to react only when the western nations comment on our affairs especially on corruption. The present Government and the CBI did not move an inch on the enquiry ordered by UPA government in 2013 (also because of Italian courts order) till the Italian appellate Court pronounced its judgment in the last week of April 2016 indicting M/S Fin Meccanica and other Italian agents on charges of bribe giving to Indians in the sale of 12 Helicopters. We Indians certainly have an ostrich mentality in all our affairs.
At least for now the citizens of India want to know the TRUTH and absolute TRUTH and not political gimmickry and electioneering mimicry that too by the powers that be who control the mighty and powerful government agencies. It does not augur well for the PM of the nation to deliberately avoid participation in the debate in the ongoing Loksabha session and speak derogatorily about his political opponents without having laid the proof in the people’s court. It only shows that the PM of the country does not have confidence in the Loksabha of which he is the leader of the house. Will that qualify for breaching the privilege of Loksabha??
The people of India should now be told whether any bribe was given to any of the Indians in the above deal of Rs3600 crores. Is it not a possibility that the Italian agents took the bribe amount from their parent company and pocketed some portion of it? The role of all parties involved starting from PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Shri Manmohan Singh, their advisers at that time, Shri Vajpayee’s foster son, all the other bureaucrats involved in decision making from 1997 to 2010 including various IAF officers should be disclosed to the nation. Because it is difficult to believe only Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi (retd) and his associates are involved in accepting bribes. Brajesh Mishra, he was the the one who had a very long association with the while deal, and his team, both at PMO and NSA should also be thoroughly probed by the CBI as the needle suspicion points towards the others too, including then defence secretary Ajai Vikram Singh, cabinet secretary B.K. Chaturvedi, SPG director B.V. Wanchoo as they cannot be mute spectators to the whole issue.
A time has come to in the destiny of nation that such files must be declassified and put before the nation for people to decide who are the real CULPRITs rather than playing politics about such a matter. In any case the helicopter was not a part of defence requirement and no secrecy clause to be brought in to declassify the files.
Does the government have the GUTS and GUMPTION to declassify all the files pertaining to purchase of 12 Augusta Westland VVIP helicopters?
Or is the government is afraid of full disclosure to hide its own skeletons and use the issue for its political advantage by telling half truths? Only time will tell as TRUTH can never be buried forever in a democracy.
Jai bharat mata ki
Jai Hind
I love my India