Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that the previous government has to answer the big question that “who took bribe?” in the Agusta Westland case.

Meanwhile, Government has issued a clarification in the matter pertaining to acquisition of Agusta Westland helicopters stating that the undisputed central issue that stands out is corruption, especially bribery.

In the statement, government has asserted that ever since the new government was given the responsibility to serve the people, it has acted with speed, drive and purpose to empower the country’s masses, adding that it continues to relentlessly pursue fearless and transparent governance.

The statement further says that one of the core goals of the governance has been to unearth and uproot corruption, and punish the corrupt.

Meanwhile, CBI has called for questioning former Air chief S P Tyagi and former deputy Air chief J S Gujral in connection with its probe into the alleged corruption in Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

According to CBI, Air Marshal (Retd) Gujral has been asked to appear for questioning today, while Tyagi will be examined on Monday.

Both have been questioned at length in 2013, but the fresh round of questioning was necessitated after 7th April order of an Italian court.

On the other hand the BJP has sharpened its attack against the Congress over the AgustaWestland chopper scam While BJP’s newly inducted Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy turned the screws on Leader of Opposition in the upper house Ghulam Nabi Azad for wrongly making claims related to the blacklisting of the scam-tainted company.

Party President Amit Shah kept up his barrage against Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi asking some tough questions.

With fresh revelations relating to the AgustaWestland chopper deal case surfacing by the day, the war of words has intensified between the govt and the opposition.

BJP President Amit Shah is leading the party charge against the Congress.

He accused Congress President Sonia Gandhi of misguiding the country by concealing vital facts regarding tampering with the tender conditions to hastily award the order for the VVIP Choppers.

In Rajya Sabha, newly nominated member Subramanian Swamy charged Leader of Oppisition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad of spreading lies.

Azad had claimed that AgustaWestland’s parent company Finnmecanica was blacklisted by the UPA govt.

Swamy demanded action against Azad for alleged breach of privilege for his remarks.

India has approached the British government for extradition of Christian Michel, the middleman named by Italian investigators as a key intermediary in swinging the controversial deal for AgustaWestland choppers.

The controversial deal and the alleged bribes to the tune of 120 crore rupees paid in clinching it for AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Italian defence giant Finmeccanica, triggered a political slugfest in India after an Italian court cited handwritten references to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and former Air chief SP Tyagi by the middleman in a judgement that convicted the helicopter company’s chief executive.