As the cargo ship perilously floated in the midst of the rough sea, Italian air force sent the helicopter from an air base in southern Italy on Friday [Representational Picture]
As the cargo ship perilously floated in the midst of the rough sea, Italian air force sent the helicopter from an air base in southern Italy on Friday [Representational Picture]Wikimedia Commons

India's main ruling party, the BJP, has decided to bring the name of Sonia Gandhi to be included in the infamous AugustaWestland chopper scam during the Parliamentary debate on Wednesday, reported NDTV. Prosecutors of an Italian court have named five Indian politicians and an official from the earlier Congress regime to have been involved in the scam.

They have also accused India and its ruling dispensation then of concealing a full year's information on the transactions.

The Rs. 3,565 crore chopper deal, which fell apart during the Congress party's rule in the country, was tainted with bribery charges. Though no proof of any bribery exists against Gandhi, the news channel reported that certain letters mentioned her name, citing the court's rulings.

Italian courts had taken up the charges of bribery allegation against its officials seriously. On April 8, it had found both the chief executive of Finmeccanica (the parent company), and the head of its chopper division, Augusta Westland, guilty of international corruption and money laundering, as reported by the Economic Times.

While the legal proceedings have come to narrow down on most Italian officials who gave the bribe, India's concealed move has hidden names of Indian people taking the bribe, reported the Indian Express.

However, the ET reported, citing the court ruling, that there was "reasonable belief that corruption took place" in the 2010 VVIP helicopter deal and that former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi was involved.

Minister of Telecommunication Ravi Shankar Prasad asked the leaders of the Congress party to come clean on the issue and name the politicians involved in the bribery scam, the IE reported. He accused the party of trying to save the guilty as the then defence minister himself had said in March 2013 that corruption had taken places in the purchase of the VVIP choppers.

Italian court rulings indicate that about $10 million-$15 million was paid as bribes to Indian officials.