Patiala House Court in New Delhi on Monday granted bail to former Air Force chief SP Tyagi in connection with Rs 3,546-crore worth AgustaWestland chopper deal bribery case.
Tyagi, who retired in 2007, was arrested along with his cousin Sanjiv alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan by the CBI on December 9.
All the three accused were booked under Section 120B, Section 420 IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, CBI informed.
Earlier, former IAF chief had questioned his arrest on the basis of a three-year gap between the registration of the FIR by the CBI and the date of his arrest.
Tyagi, in his bail application, had asked why he was summoned in May, 2016 when the CBI lodged an FIR in March 2013.
On January 1, 2014, India had scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.
SP Tyagi is accused of receiving illegal payments for helping AgustaWestland win the Rs. 3,600 crore chopper contracts by tailoring specifications so that company could be included in the bids.
According to the reports, 70 million Euros (about Rs 360 crore) were allegedly paid as kickbacks.
Earlier, Enforcement Directorate had registered a PMLA case in this regard in 2014 and named 21 people including Tyagi in its money laundering FIR.
