Supreme Court of India today asked the Union of India to appear and assist on two PIL petitions seeking CBI and SIT probe in the non transparent purchases of VVIP Helicopters by various State government.
The order came in the PIL filed by Swaraj Abhiyan which was argued by Lawyer Prashant Bhushan.
It is argued that many State Govt have purchased VVIP Helicopters either without any tender or by way of a sham tender but none of such deals have been investigated by CBI/ED like the VVIP Chopper deal of Central Govt.
In the case of Chhattisgarh, the tender itself was issued to purchase a particular brand of Agusta Helicopter.
In the said tender all the three companies who participated were represented by same person.
“Commission of more than 1 Million dollar was paid to some bank accounts who were not connected at all to the deal.
Moreover the winner company in the said tender Sharp Ocean Investment Ltd was winded up within a year of the deal,” the petition alleged.
“Whereas just a month before that as per ICIJ papers an offshore account in the name of “Abhishak Singh” with full address of Kawardha Chhattisgarh was opened in the British Virgin Island,” the petition alleged.
The other petition filed by the leader of opposition in Chhattisgarh Assembly and a RTI activist Nitin Sinha has also alleged non transparent VVIP helicopter purchases by various State Govt.s besides Chhattisgarh.
The CAG report with regard to purchase made by Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab have termed the purchases as non-transparent as well as without any tender. The petition further alleges Helicopter purchases made by Jharkhand and Rajasthan without inviting any tender.
The bench headed by J. Deepak Mishra along with J. Nagappan of Supreme Court has sought Union of India’s assistance in the matter while posting it for hearing in the first week of November 2016.