It's for prosecuting agency to fix individual responsibility: Congress on Augusta Westland deal

With former Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi blaming the then Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in the AgustaWestland case, the Congress Party on Sunday rubbished his assertion and said if an accused names anybody which is contrary to record then it means nothing.

Congress leader KTS Tulsi told ANI that the decision to lower the height from 6,000 feet to 4,500 feet was taken by the PMO of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"It is there on record that is the one which was conveyed and that is the basis on which he was bribed. Now, if an accused names anybody which is contrary to record then it means nothing. And if that is the game plan of this government, I feel sorry for them," he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it is for the prosecuting agency to fix individual responsibility in a criminal case.

"He has not dragged any PMO, he has that it is a collective decision of the government of India," he said.

The former Air Force chief, who was arrested earlier on Friday over alleged irregularities in the Rs. 3,600 crore deal with AgustaWestland to acquire a dozen VVIP choppers, has said that changing the specifications of the helicopters was not his decision alone.

Tyagi's lawyer said that in 2003 the Prime Minister's Office asked the air chief to get involved in the procurement. In a 2005 meeting, the changes in requirements were suggested, he said.

Tyagi, who headed the Indian Air Force between 2005 and 2007, has been accused by the investigators in Italy and India of abusing his official position to swing the contract in favour of Finnmeccanica, the parent company of UK-based helicopter maker AgustaWestland, by tailoring specifications of the tender at the instance of his cousins.