SG advises against immediate steps to blacklist Agusta

The arbitration process is yet to start between the two sides as they have not agreed upon the third member of the arbitration panel in which AgustaWestland has nominated former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) BN Srikrishna and the Defence Ministry has nominated former Justice Jeevan Reddy.

The Anglo-Italian firm is learnt to have approached the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris over the issue of appointment of third member of the arbitration panel, sources said.

AgustaWestland has denied any wrongdoing on its part in the case relating to alleged kickbacks in the deal.

The deal was for procuring 12 helicopters and three of them had already been delivered when the scam broke out in February last year.

After scrapping the deal, India encashed a guarantee of over Rs 250 crore deposited by AgustaWestland in a bank in Delhi.