SP Tyagi arrested in AgustaWestland case: 5 things to know about former Air Chief Marshal

NEW DELHI: Former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief S.P. Tyagi was on Friday arrested by the CBI on charges of corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal. Five things to know about the former IAF chief:

• Tyagi, who retired in 2007, was questioned by the CBI extensively in the past Rs 3,600-crore helicopter deal, in which some Indians are believed to have received kickbacks.
• In 2013, the CBI had registered a case against Tyagi and 13 others, including his three cousins and European middlemen.
• The allegation against Tyagi was that he brought down the flying ceiling from 6,000m to 4,500m, which made AgustaWestland copters eligible to participate in the bids.
• Tyagi has said the change of specifications was a collective decision in which officials of different departments were involved.
• This is for first time a former IAF chief has been arrested by the central probe agency.

On January 1, 2014, India had scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal. (With inputs from PTI)