SC gives relief to Chattisgarh govt; dismisses AgustaWestland chopper purchase case

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AgustaWestland money laundering case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 13) granted a major relief to Chattisgarh government. The bench comprising of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Uday Umesh Lalit dismissed a petition seeking a SIT probe into the alleged irregularities in the purchase of the AgustaWestland helicopter by the Chattisgarh government saying it doesn’t find any merit in it.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the Chattisgarh government submitted to the bench that the allegations regarding the purchase of AgustaWestland helicopter was unwarranted as they purchased it only after it found no substance in Eurcopter choppers and other companies’ choppers and hence it didn’t float the tender for that.

In the earning hearings, the Supreme Court had asked searching questions to Chattisgarh government including as what was the “interest” of Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son Abhishek Singh in the deal.

See the detailed judgment here.

—India Legal Bureau