New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea seeking registration of first information reports against persons who were named in a judgment passed by an Italian court on alleged irregularities in the AgustaWestland chopper deal.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have been named in the judgement for their suspected involvement in the AgustaWestland chopper deal.
It also names Sonia Gandhi’s trusted aide and Congress general secretary Oscar Fernandes and the then National Security Advisor MK Narayanan.
The plea was admitted by a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra. Apart from registration of FIRs against persons named in the judgment, it also sought a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) or the chief vigilance commission investigation under the courts supervision.
The petition was brought by advocate M.L. Sharma.
The case will be heard next on 19 July.
In 2010, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government signed a deal with AgustaWestland for the purchase of 12 helicopters to ferry VVIPs. But it was scrapped after reports appeared in Italy saying the firm had paid kickbacks to Indian officials to clinch the deal.
The process of scrapping the ₹ 3,600 crore helicopter deal was initiated in 2013.
