A decision on the all-but-officially scrapped bid for 197 light reconnaissance & surveillance helicopters (RSH) for the Army and Indian Air Force, will be officially held off until the government addresses a recommendation by the Indian Army that a serving Brigadier (who’s name I reported in October last year) be probed for allegations that he was in touch with AgustaWestland and offered to manipulate RSH field trials in exchange for $5-million. The Brigadier’s name found mention in documents found by Italian investigators at the residence of arms agent Ralph Guido Haschke’s mother.
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The Chinese have a very simple system for deterring corruption. Every once in a while they round up a couple of corrupt officials and execute them. This deter's corruption to manageable levels. And as there are "no appeals" and "no reversals" in the Chinese judiciary all "executions" are carried out without delay. Plus, executed prisoners in China are a vital supply of fresh organs for transplant creating a new avenue for business.
India should emulate the Chinese example. A few dead corrupt military officers and officials would be a welcome change in a country where so many have stolen so much with no repercussions.
seems govt. is planning to replace choppers with balloons.
Yeah…and that balloons will be filled with fart gas.
10:24 how would you like to be at the other end of the barrel where somebody frames you and executes you. you only appreciate what you have once it is gone. ever care to think that all this could be a strategy by rivals to block purchases. I am not saying there is no corruption. but the way the system is designed, the moment somebody says scandal the deal is put on hold.
The voracious appetite for dirty money among the grasping class simply staggers the imagination!
How does on rise to the rank of brigadier and without one’s moral failings exposed as they scale the leadership ladder? What kind of upbringing did this man have to have succumbed to the blandishments of the two so called middle men?
I fear there may be more to this as one officer would not have been able to carry off this crime without the connivance of other more senior officers.
These persons need to be tried, and if found guilty, the brigadier and others (officers) should lose their commission, rights to pension and benefits, and shamed. For civilians only lengthy and rigorous imprisonment will suffice. India’s fighting men deserve the best that India can afford. This act is a stab in the back of every soldier and airman in the armed forces.
While India sleeps, a military threat and a future humiliation are building while senior army officers like the political and economic elites are increasingly infected with a sense of entitlement and moral turpitude. An example must be made of the guilty parties and the punishment for the crime should be deterrent to those who may in the future contemplate such a dastardly act.
Anonymous, I did not suggest the innocent be punished, only the guilty and after due process. As you say, this could be a stratagem to derail the purchase. This facet will no doubt be investigated. These companies do keep extensive records and if it does turn out that a bribe was offered, the company executives can be prosecuted as well under EC laws. However, your comment does allow me make one other point, and that in a corrupt society it doesn't take much to create suspicion and stall the acquisition of a much needed equipment. Public institutions cannot function efficiently and effectively without trust, accountability and transparency. What I am suggesting is the process of restoring credibility must begin with rigorous enforcement and low tolerance for convicted fraudsters and bribe takers. India and Indians cannot aspire to global greatness without strong and trustworthy public institutions.