Chopper scam: former Air Force Chief Fali Major counters CAG report

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry changed its own rules to sign a contract worth nearly 3700 crores for 12 helicopters with AgustaWestland, an Italian-owned company, the government's auditor has said in a report that dissects the deal that's now being investigated for possible kickbacks in both Italy and India. Among the violations that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) lists is the decision in 2007 by then Air Force Chief Fali Major to allow trials for the helicopters under consideration to be put through field trials overseas, instead of at home.
 The AgustaWestland trial was held in the UK; the American Sikorsky chopper was tested in the US from 16 January 2008 to February 2008, the CAG report says, describing the air chief's decision as "unjustified." But speaking to NDTV, former Air Chief Marshall Major said, "No Chief can clear a decision to carry out trials abroad... It needs an endorsement by the government and the government did endorse it." The CAG report also says that critical criteria listed for the new helicopters, intended for the use of top politicians, were changed to ensure AgustaWestland made the cut.
 So the cabin height was increased to 1.8 metres from 1.45 metres and the altitude that the helicopters were needed to fly at was reduced from 6000 metres to 4500 metres, without which AgustaWestland would have been ruled out. The report acknowledges that Defence Minister AK Antony was not comfortable with foreign trials but cedes that the government signed off after being assured that "the trial team was fully competent to carry out the task" abroad. Former Air Chief Marshal Major also pointed out to NDTV that the Defence Procurement Procedure allows testing abroad as long as specifications are met. The process to buy the helicopters was initiated by the NDA government in 2003 when Atal Behari Vajpayee was Prime Minister.
 The specifications in the tender were altered in 2006 and ratified later in 2010 when the UPA had come to power. But the CAG report finds no fault with the NDA's role, which weakens the defense of the incumbent government, which has tried to pass the buck for the alleged scam to its predecessor. The report, which was shared with Parliament today, was prepared by Vinod Rai whose term as CAG ended in May. It appears to fault the man who took over from him, Shashikant Sharma, who was a senior bureaucrat in the Defence Ministry and played an important role in approving the changes to the tender.