CBI books Rolls Royce for alleged graft in AJT deal
   Date :30-May-2023

CBI books Rolls Royce 
 
 
 
NEW DELHI, 
THE CBI has filed a corruption case against British aerospace and defence company Rolls Royce PLC, top executives of its Indian unit and arms dealers for alleged “kickbacks” in the procurement of Hawk 115 Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft for the Indian Air Force and Navy, officials said. The CBI has registered a case against Tim Jones, Director Rolls Royce India, alleged arms dealers Sudhir Choudhrie and his son Bhanu Choudhrie, Rolls Royce Plc and British Aerospace Systems under IPC section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act after completing a six-year-old preliminary enquiry registered in December 2016.
Email sent to Rolls Royce seeking comments remained unanswered. A British court order in 2017 also mentioned the alleged involvement of intermediaries and payment of commission by the company for swinging the deal, they said.
It is alleged that during 2003-12, these accused entered into a conspiracy with unidentified public servants who “abused their official positions” in lieu of “huge bribes, commissions and kickbacks” paid by Rolls Royce to approve the aircraft purchase.
The company paid intermediaries, even though the agreements, integrity pacts and associated documents of the deal “prohibited such payments”, the CBI FIR has alleged. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had approved the procurement of 66 Hawk 115 AJTs on September 3, 2003, under which 24 BAE Hawk 115Y AJTs in flyaway condition with all the accoutrement along with material for 42 aircraft to be manufactured by HAL were cleared for GBP 734.21 million, equivalent to Rs 5653.44 crore (calculated at Rs 77 per GBP), was sanctioned. Procurement of 42 aircraft, to be licence manufactured by HAL at an additional cost of GBP 308.247 million, equivalent to Rs 1944 crore, and a payment of GBP 7.5 million to Rolls Royce as a Manufacturer’s licence fee was also cleared. Subsequent contracts signed with Rolls Royce/BAE had an integrity clause that barred the engagement of any middlemen or payment of a commission. In case of violation, the company could have been debarred for any Government of India work for the next five years besides penalty.