New Delhi:
Amid angry shouts alleging corruption within the government, Defence Minister AK Antony today told Parliament there was no proof of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's alleged link to the VVIP chopper scam, which involves the now-cancelled deal to buy 12 luxury helicopters from defence manufacturer AgustaWestland.
A document that surfaced days ago shows that a middleman central to the deal asked his contact in India to target the aides of Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister to bag the contract.
"The authenticity of these documents is not proved. The case is presently in Italian court," said the Defence Minister.
The opposition says the scandal proves that the government has been operating in a continuum of indefatigable corruption.
The faxed and unsigned note that allegedly mentions Mrs Gandhi was produced in an Italian court recently where the Italian boss of AgustaWestland's parent company Finmeccanica was arrested last February over the case.
Christen Michel was one of the middlemen for the deal, prosecutors in Italy have alleged. Mr Michel was arrested in October. He allegedly faxed a contact at AgustaWestland's Delhi office in March, 2008, asking for "Sonia Gandhi and her closest advisors" to be approached.
The Defence Minister also spoke about another unsigned, handwritten note with controversial references that had raised speculation about the involvement of Sonia Gandhi. He said another middleman, Guido Haschke, had said that the reference to "FAM" or family in the note was to the family of former air chief SP Tyagi.
The CBI has alleged that the former chief was among those who accepted bribes from Finmeccanica which used a maze of companies in counties like Mauritius to route payments to officers.
India agreed in 2010 to spend 3700 crores to acquire the Agusta helicopters that would be used by the President, PM and other top politicians.
But since the allegations of kickbacks erupted in Italy, it has cancelled the contract and the CBI has launched its own investigation into the swindle.