AgustaWestland case: ED claims top UPA leaders pushed deal, Congress says, ‘election stunt by government’ 

Arunima Bajaj  Friday 5th of April 2019 09:42 AM
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An AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter.

New Delhi: While filing the fourth supplementary chargesheet in the kickback case in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, the Enforcement Directorate, on Thursday, told a Delhi special court that “kickbacks were paid to defence officials, bureaucrats, journalists and important political persons of the ruling party.”

The chargesheet listed one of the “dispatches” between February 2008 and October 2009, which said Sonia Gandhi “was the driving force behind the deal and constantly helped AgustaWestland by intervention through the Prime Minister’s Office and defence minister.”

It further stated about another dispatch referring to “procurement paper” being sent to “all five cabinet members — home minister, finance minister, foreign minister, defence minister, PM and the party leader” and that “none of them have had any problems but for finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.”

The chargesheet also added three new names to the list of accused – David Nigel John Syms, who the ED claimed was Michel’s business partner, and two firms owned by them, M/s Global Trade and Commerce Limited and M/s Global Services FZE, UAE.

However, the Congress rejected the references to its leaders as a “cheap election stunt”. Randeep Surjewala, party’s communication department head, said, “A single uncertified page leaked by ED of a purported chargesheet is a cheap election stunt to divert attention from imminent defeat of the Modi government. ED has become “election dhakosla” of a government manufacturing a lie a day.

He also said, “We reject this rubbish being served as a diversionary political agenda by the Modi government, who has already lost the plot of 2019 elections.”


 
 

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