Chopper scam: MK Narayanan becomes first governor to be quizzed by CBI

NEW DELHI: Ending months of suspense, the CBI on Friday questioned West Bengal governor MK Narayanan in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam in what turned out to be the first ever questioning by the agency of anyone holding a Gubernatorial post.
The 80-year-old governor, who was questioned as "witness" by a team of CBI officers in Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, has already been nudged by the NDA government to quit his post.
CBI sources said Goa governor BV Wanchoo will be next and the agency has already conveyed to him that he would be questioned soon, may be over the weekend.
The two governors are being questioned as ‘witnesses’ in the probe into allegations of bribery paid to Indian officials in the Rs 3600 crore VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland.
Questioning of two governors was the last phase in the AgustaWestland investigations. The CBI will now take a call on filing a chargesheet soon as Italian prosecutors have also provided evidence to the agency.
After taking time from him on June 24, a CBI team including the DIG of anti-corruption branch, reached the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Friday morning. The team asked Narayanan questions related to the “particular meeting” of March 1, 2005, which was attended by him along with former IAF chief SP Tyagi, Wanchoo and other government officials, on the service ceiling of the helicopters meant for VVIPs.

MK Narayanan.
During the two-hour questioning, Narayanan informed the agency sleuths that the decision to reduce the service ceiling from 6000 meters to 4500 meters was taken on the basis of proposal put up by the Air Force, sources said. The former national security advisor also cited that his predecessor in the previous NDA government, Brajesh Mishra, had decided to lower the service ceiling first in December 2003. CBI officers, however, said that “on papers, the service ceiling was reduced in 2005 which went in favour of AgustaWestland”.
Sources said Narayanan recorded his statement and answered all questions. The investigators said they are not sure whether Narayanan would be questioned again.

BV Wanchoo (centre).
The CBI also confirmed that a team would be in Goa on Saturday or Sunday to question Wanchoo. Wanchoo was the Chief of the elite Special Protection Group (SPG), which is responsible for the Prime Minister’s security, before being appointed as governor.
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CBI’s request for questioning of Narayanan and Wanchoo had been earlier rejected by the law ministry during the UPA regime, prompting the agency to send a request to President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking his permission to record their statements as witnesses.
The law ministry had declined permission saying the two were holding Constitutional posts which gave them immunity from prosecution under Article 361 of the Constitution.
The agency has put the investigation in this case on a fast-track and questioned several bureaucrats including former Cabinet secretary BK Chaturvedi and Comptroller and auditor general Shashikant Sharma who was the then defence secretary.

Former Air chief SP Tyagi.
The Rs 3600 crore deal was scrapped by the UPA government in December last year.
The CBI has registered a case against former IAF chief SP Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen in the case.
The former Air chief is alleged to have got the flying ceiling reduced so that AgustaWestland company was included in the bids. Tyagi has refuted the charges.
CBI claims the parameters regarding the height as well as the flight evaluation were changed in a manner that enabled AgustaWestland to clinch the deal vis-a-vis its competitor Sikorsky.
In April this year, former secretary (security) Sudhir Kumar, former inspector general (SPG) N Ramachandran, who retired as DGP Meghalaya, and former Special Secretary (Acquisition) in the defence ministry HC Gupta were examined by the agency as part of its probe.