AgustaWestland: Omissions and commissions in deal, says Parrikar

New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday quoted the Italian court judgment while speaking on the AgustaWestland issue, and said that "there were cases of omissions and commissions at various stages of the decision-making process" in the deal.

Replying to the debate on the AgustaWestland chopper deal in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Parrikar said that the "single vendor situation was created by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government so that Agusta could become the final vendor" and it would benefit them.

Parrikar took a jibe at Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and said: "Abhishek Manu Singhvi almost convinced me by his argument, now I understand how convincing he is. But the brief is very weak, and even the best advocate can't win the case."

"The Italian court has said there are omissions and commissions at various stages of decision-making process indicate malafide and corrupt action given by the goal to favour a particular vendor. The deal was cancelled by the government under advise of CAG," he added.

Parrikar said: "The country wants to know as to who instigated, supported and benefited from corruption, We can't let this pass. The fact that there was corruption in the matter is brought out in extensive details in recent judgments."

"Request for Proposal (RFP) stated that field evaluation trials (FET) would be carried out in India, however, this was given a go-by," he added.