CBI chargesheet against ex- CAG Sharma in VVIP Chopper case

The CBI has charged former Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and former Air Vice Marshal Jasbir Singh Panesar in the Agusta-Westland case involving corruption in the purchase of VVIP choppers. In a supplementary chargesheet the agency on Wednesday naned Sharma and four others IAF officials as accused in the Rs 3,200 crore case, The case involves alleged bribery to swing a deal for AgustaWestland to provide 12 VVIP helicopters to India for top leaders including the President, Prime Minister and others. AgustaWestland allegedly landed the deal despite being ineligible as its helicopters did not meet the 6,000-meter operational ceiling parameter set by the Indian Air Force.

The Defence Ministry recently gave its clearance to the agency which was pending. Sharma was Joint Secretary (Air) in the Defence Ministry between 2003 and 2007 and went on to become Defence Secretary (2011-13) and auditor (2013-2017). He is a retired 1976 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer officer. The CBI took over the case in 2016 and filed the first chargesheet against former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi and 11 others on September 1, 2017.

According to reports the former Air Chief is accused of recommending a reduction in the operational ceiling of the helicopters, despite objections, to help AgustaWestland, the CBI has alleged. The CBI alleges that Air Chief Marshal Tyagi did this on the bidding of Finmeccanica and  AgustaWestland's top executives, who engaged the services of three middlemen -- Christian Michel, Guido Haschke and Carlos Gerosa. Christian Michel was extradited to India in 2018. He is currently in jail.