Agusta deal: SC to hear plea on May 6

The Supreme Court on May 6 will hear a plea to file an FIR against the people allegedly bribed in the AgustaWestland chopper scam. Rajya Sabha proceedings last week was taken over by accusations and counter accusations traded by BJP and Congress MPs about who was involved in the Rs 3,600 crore chopper scam.

Meanwhile in Parliament, Congress forced three adjournments in Rajya Sabha during the pre-noon session demanding a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on CAG pointing to anamolies in Gujarat's Krishna-Godavari Basin gas project.

Congress sought a discussion on the latest report of CAG listing irregularities in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation's KG basin gas project.

While the government said CAG reports are examined by Public Accounts Committees (PACs) of state assemblies and there was no convention to discuss those in Parliament, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said their notice seeking a discussion was under examination of the Chairman.

This did not satisfy Congress members who rushed into the Well of the House raising slogans "Pradhan Mantri jawab do, jawab do."

Kurien first adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes till 1130 hours, then till noon and thereafter till



1232 hours as similar scenes were repeated when the House reassembled after the brief breaks.

No sooner were the listed papers laid, Madhusudan Mistry (Cong) sought to raise the issue of CAG slamming the handling of the Bay of Bengal KG Basin gas field project by Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC), a state government entity.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday gave a notice in the House for suspension of all business to pave way for immediate discussion on the alleged AgustaWestland chopper scam.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said he will place all facts along with the detailed chronology about the controversial chopper deal before Parliament on May 4. "I will place the detailed chronology with documents giving facts about AgustaWestland chopper deal before Parliament on May 4," he said in Panaji.

AgustaWestland's Rs 3,600 crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force had been scrapped by the previous UPA regime over charges of paying kickbacks to Indian agents.

In January 2013, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government cancelled the deal and the CBI was assigned to investigate whether kickbacks were paid to Indian officials.