New Delhi: Defence minister A.K. Antony is understood to have initially had some concerns on going ahead with the Rs 3,546-crore deal with AgustaWestland in 2008-09 due to steep costs that would be incurred to acquire the 12 helicopters for VVIP travel, but eventually relented after the Special Protection Group — that guards the Prime Minister and some other VVIPs — and the Indian Air Force argued that the acquisition was “necessary in view of the current security scenario”. 
The deal was eventually signed in February 2010, but now faces cancellation by the ministry of defence following revelations of alleged bribery.
 
On Sunday, the CBI also engaged a lawyer in Italy to represent India’s case with the Italian government and the local courts to find out the role of  Indians in the alleged kickbacks. 
If needed, the lawyer will approach the court in Italy for procurement of the documents. 
 
The proposed deal was also debated at length within the CCS, which cleared it on January 18, 2010. 
 
Government sources said Antony was initially in a dilemma in 2008-09 on whether his ministry would be able to justify the huge costs for these helicopters for VVIP travel from the national exchequer, but was later persuaded to accept the SPG and IAF viewpoint. 
 
Haschke cleaned up Documents on Copeter scam
Alleged middleman Guido Haschke had “cleaned up” all the documents from his computer related to the VVIP helicopter deal, it was revealed on Sunday.
 
There are also reports in the Italian media that investigators managed to retrieve the deleted information. In addition, other papers he had hidden at his mother’s home were also recovered, the reports said, adding that the investigators termed the information found in his computer drives as a “Pandora’s box” where he has noted details of his appointments, his meetings with Indian intermediaries, and several international transactions including that of Finmeccanica.
 
The documents recovered from the hard drive which was allegedly formatted by middleman Guido Haschke are being used by the prosecutors in the Italian court to build their case in fixing responsibilities of several accused including former Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi for allegedly paying Rs 360 crore in bribes to bag the Rs 3,600-crore copter deal, media reports suggested.
 
The report said the “fate of Orsi depends on the court's reading of the documents that Haschke had hidden in his mother's house and the files found in his computer that he thought he had cleared and reset.“

Chopper deal: CBI puts lawyer on case
 
The CBI has engaged a lawyer in Italy to represent India's case with the Italian government and the local courts to find out the role of Indians in the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal.
 
Official sources said today that the assistance of a lawyer was taken to help understand the Italian law and expedite getting documents from the helicopter company.
 
A team of CBI and Defence Ministry officials is leaving for Italy tomorrow to verify allegations of kickbacks.
 
Official sources said the team comprises a CBI DIG, a law officer of the agency, a Joint Secretary-level officer of Defence Ministry and an official of the External Affairs Ministry.
 
The team’s departure was delayed by a day due to some last-minute formalities which required to be fulfilled before travelling abroad for the purpose of investigation, they said, adding the team would try to meet Italian prosecutors to ascertain the details of the case.
 
The CBI’s decision came after it virtually drew a blank from the Defence Ministry in getting some official inputs regarding alleged kickbacks of Rs 362 crore in the case.
 
The CBI also engaged a lawyer in Italy to represent India’s case with the Italian government and the local courts to find out the role of Indians in the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal.
 
Official sources said the assistance of a lawyer was taken to help understand the Italian law and expedite getting documents from the helicopter company.
 
The lawyer, if necessary, would be approaching the court in Italy for procurement of documents, they said. The CBI was handed over a letter from the Defence Ministry seeking a probe by it in the case which has triggered a storm in the country.
 
Attached with the letter were some Indian and Italian press clippings, which the CBI said, could not form the basis for registering a case.
 
CBI had sought help of Indian Mission in Rome which too has not been able to provide any authenticated court documents to the agency, the sources said. This was followed by CBI seeking help of Interpol which also expressed inability to provide any help in the absence of any regular case not having been registered by the agency, they said.
 
The Defence Ministry had yesterday sent a team led by Joint Secretary and an Air Commodore of Indian Air Force, who gave a presentation to the CBI about the tendering procedures and various stages while finalising the helicopter deal with AgustaWestland.
 
However, when pressed by the CBI officials about the kickback allegations, the team could not provide any answers to the sleuths, the sources said.