- Friday, April 26, 2024
The investigating agency registered a case against British multinational aerospace and defence company, its India director Tim Jones and others over alleged corruption in procurement of 24 Hawk 115 Advance Jet Trainer Aircraft.
By: Shubham Ghosh
India’s elite Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday (29) registered a case against Rolls Royce India Pvt Ltd; Tim Jones, director of Rolls Royce India Pvt Ltd and private individuals Sudhir Choudhurie and Bhanu Choudhurie and unknown public servants and private persons with the alleged objective to cheat the Indian government over procurement of Hawk aircraft from Rolls Royce PLC, UK, and its associate group companies, including M/s Rolls Royce Turbomeca Limited.
According to an official statement by the investigating agency, the unidentified public servants allegedly misused their positions and facilitated the procurement of 24 Hawk 115 Advance Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft from the British aerospace and defence company and its associate firms, Livemint reported.
CBI registers a case against British Aerospace company Rolls Royce India Pvt Ltd, Tim Jones, Director Rolls Royce India Pvt Ltd and private individuals Sudhir Chuadhrie and Bhanu Chaudharie and other unknown public servants and private persons with the objective to cheat the… pic.twitter.com/tREN8OUkyk
— ANI (@ANI) May 29, 2023
According to sources in the CBI, the accused abused their officials positions in criminal conspiracy with then public servants to approve and procure the aircraft for more than £734 billion, besides permitting license manufacturing of 42 other aircraft by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for an additional $308.247 million (£249.6 million) and $7.5 million (£6.07 million) towards the Manufacturer’s Licence Fee by paying big bribes, commissions and kickbacks to intermediaries, NDTV reported.
It said the deal was made despite the agreements pertaining to it prohibited payments to middlemen.
The NDTV report added that according to the probe, the accused approved in 2008-10 the license manufacturing of 57 additional Hawk aircraft by HAL for Rs 9,502.68 crore (£93.1 million) under a separate agreement with BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd, another entity of the BAES Group.
In September 2003, the Cabinet Committee on Security in the Indian defence ministry approved in a meeting the procurement of 66 Hawk 115 aircraft and the signing of an Inter-Government Agreement between the Indian and British governments for long-term product support. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two nations in March 2004 for product support over a long period.
