India will punish any official found guilty of taking bribes from Finmeccanica to steer a multimillion-dollar helicopter contract to the Italian defence firm, the defence minister said on Wednesday.
AK Antony told reporters the government would blacklist and take legal action against any company found to have paid a bribe in the 560 million euro (HK$5.8 billion) deal for 12 helicopters intended for ferrying Indian officials around the country.
“Nobody will be spared. If a company violates the conditions, they are liable for criminal action,” Antony said. “The company is liable to be blacklisted.”
India’s defence ministry has ordered a separate investigation into the defence agreement with Finmeccanica after the Italian company’s chief executive was arrested in Milan on Tuesday on charges he had paid bribes to snag the Indian contract.
Antony said he ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s equivalent of the FBI, to examine all aspects of the helicopter deal.
Meanwhile, former Indian air force chief Shashi Tyagi on Wednesday denied media reports that members of his family had received payments from the Italian group to facilitate the helicopter deal.
“I deny these allegations. Such a big contract is not determined by one person alone. Everything will become clear once the CBI probe is complete,” Tyagi told NDTV.