India taking steps to 'fully recover' bank guarantees in VVIP chopper scam - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Sunday said it will take "immediate steps to fully recover" the over 250 million Euros bank guarantees provided by AgustaWestland in the 556 million Euros (Rs 3,546-crore) contract for 12 VVIP helicopters, which was scrapped on January 1 due to allegations of corruption and bribery.
READ ALSO: January 1, 2014: India cancels Rs 3,546 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal
"The appellate court in Milan on Friday has substantially upheld the claims of the Indian government against AgustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL), Agusta Westland Spa and Deutsche Bank, Italy, on the encashment of bank guarantees and performance bond in the VVIP helicopter case," said the MoD.
"The court also ordered AWIL and AW Spa to reimburse legal costs of the Indian government. MoD is studying the order and will take immediate steps to recover the amounts fully," it added.
As reported by TOI earlier, India had appealed against the Italian court order in March that had barred India from recovering the "advance bank guarantees" — which total up to 250,317,910 Euros — with the Deutsche Bank at Milano in Italy.
The MoD has already encashed the "integrity pact bank guarantee" submitted by AgustaWestland, the UK-based subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, in the State Bank of India at Parliament Street in New Delhi.
In February last year, after the arrest of the then Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi in Italy, the MoD had frozen all further payments to AgustaWestland. This was done even though only three of the 12 AW-101 helicopters had been delivered by then, with around 45% of the total contract value already being paid to the company.
AgustaWestland had submitted two bank guarantees to match the payments — one advance of 15% and another of 30% — as well as "5% earnest money" and "5% performance bond" as part of the integrity pact.
READ ALSO: India to appeal against Italian court's order on bank guarantees
The MoD had also nominated former Supreme Court judge BP Jeevan Reddy as its arbitrator in the case after AgustaWestland invoked the arbitration clause by naming another former Supreme Court judge, BN Srikrishna, as its representative.
Though the government is ready to deal with arbitration, it maintains the cancellation of the deal because of AgustaWestland's "blatant violation" of the pre-contract integrity pact did not fall under its purview, as reported by TOI earlier.
There are "enough safeguards" built into the integrity pact and the contract inked with AgustaWestland in February 2010 to "protect India's interests" and impose "punitive damages" on the company, say officials.
The violation of the integrity pact entitles the "buyer" to take action against the "seller" like forfeiture of the earnest money, performance bond, cancellation of the contract concerned and other contracts without any compensation and recovery of all sums already paid with interest.
"The integrity pact also specifies the vendor will return the payments made to it, with a 2% interest rate over LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate), if its provisions are violated rendering the entire contract null and void. The company can also be debarred or blacklisted for a minimum period of five years, which is extendable," said an official.
This is the second time the MoD is invoking the integrity pact's penal provisions. In 2012, it had for the first time encashed the Rs 224 crore bank guarantee given in a contract by Israeli Military Industries, one of six armament companies blacklisted for 10 years in connection with the corruption scandal against former Ordnance Factory Board chairman Sudipto Ghosh.
As per MoD's defence procurement procedure (DPP), the arbitration proceeding has to be held in New Delhi, with one arbitrator each being nominated by the buyer and seller. The third, who shall not be a citizen of domicile of the country of either of the parties, would be the neutral one.
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