Chopper scam: CBI seeks President's approval to interrogate Governors

The President may take opinion of the legal experts before allowing the agency to record the statement, the sources feel.

The CBI claims that the parameters regarding the height at which the helicopters can fly as also the flight evaluation were changed in a manner that enabled AgustaWestland to clinch the vis a vis its competitor Sikorsky.

While rejecting the plea of CBI, the Law Ministry had said the Constitutional posts gave them immunity from prosecution under Article 361 of the Constitution.  

CBI has registered a case against former IAF Chief S P Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen in the case of alleged bribery.  

The allegation against the former Air Chief was that he had reduced the height of the VVIP helicopters so that AgustaWestland is included in the bids.  

However, the decision was taken in consultation with the Special Protection Group and other top officials of the Prime Ministers Office but the agency did not get permission to question either M K Narayanan or B V Wanchoo who are Governors of West Bengal and Goa respectively.  

It alleged that reduction of service ceiling—maximum height at which a helicopter can perform normally—allowed UK-based AgustaWestland to get into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters were not even qualified for submission of bids.