AugustaWestland deal: SC issues notice to Centre, CBI

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Centre over a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking FIR against the people whose names have featured in the Italian Court's order in connection with the Augustawestland VVIP chopper scam.

Meanwhile, the apex has also issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on another PIL, asking to register an FIR on the basis of the foreign court's verdict in the chopper scam.

Both the Centre and CBI have been given four weeks to submit their replies.

The Italian court's ruling, while convicting former senior executives of AgustaWestland for allegedly paying bribes in the deal, mentioned several names, purportedly referring to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The Italian court had mentioned the names in the context of a diary of middleman Charles Michel, who had reportedly referred to the names of the Congress leaders.