SC wants C’garh to produce ‘dodgy’ file on VIP chopper deal

NEW DELHI: THE SC WAS HEARING A PIL SEEKING A SPECIAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE PURCHASE OF A COPTER, BOUGHT FOR VIP USE IN 200708. THE PIL SEEKS PROBE AGAINST CM, TOO

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Chhattisgarh government to produce original documents related to the purchase of an AgustaWestland helicopter in 2007, which a petition has alleged was done in an unlawful manner.

“We want to be sure there was no fraud in purchasing these helicopters,” the judges told the lawyer for the Chhattisgarh government.

The top court asked the state government to produce within a week the original file and declare in an affidavit the reason why objections from the then civil aviation principal secretary against the purchase were not taken into account.

“Was it disregarded or overridden?” the judges said, on the bureaucrat’s opinion that a different helicopter should be bought.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation that sought a special investigation into the purchase of the single helicopter, which was bought for VIP use in 2007-08.

The petition specifically seeks an investigation against chief minister Raman Singh.

“It was (a) fraudulent tender and the ruling BJP paid hefty commission for the purchase of one chopper in 2007.

“The tender rules were seriously bypassed,” the petitioners charged as they linked Abhishek, the chief minister’s son, to the Panama Papers, a trove of secret documents that purported to show financial dealings of people in a tax haven.