Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

Shashindra Pal Tyagi, more commonly known as S P Tyagi, is an Indian Air Force officer who served as the 20th Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and served from 31 December 2004 to 31 March 2007. He was succeeded by

Fali Homi Major Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM, ADC served as the 21st Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, taking office on 1 April 2007, and becoming the first helicopter pilot in the service to be promoted to the offi ...

Controversies

Tyagi was briefly named in an Italian Investigation into bribes paid to secure a Helicopter Contract, although further information created doubts in the matter. As per the unverified testimony of an Italian businessman, he received illegal payments to change the technical specifications of the helicopters which favored

AgustaWestland AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica (now known as Leonardo). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccani ...

which was finally awarded the deal. However, further investigation showed that the technical specifications were changed prior to his tenure on the orders of

Brajesh Mishra Brajesh Chandra Mishra (29 September 1928 – 28 September 2012) was an Indian politician and diplomat from the Indian Foreign Service who is best known for serving as the first National Security Advisor of India from 1998 to 2004. He also se ...

, the National Security Adviser, in the Prime Minister's office (PMO). According to the investigators, 21 million euros (about Rs 150 crore) were paid as kickbacks under the cover of engineering contracts reportedly through companies IDS Tunisia and IDS India. A businessman named Sanjeev 'Julie' Tyagi, a close relative of S P Tyagi, one of the key suspects in the VVIP helicopter scandal, has denied reports filed in an Italian court, saying he had nothing to do with the 2010 defence deal. Detailed government documents revealed that the decision taken to change the technical specification were suggested and agreed upon by stake holders from multiple government agencies, including the Prime Minister's Office, the

Special Protection Group The Special Protection Group (SPG) is an agency under the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India, whose sole responsibility is protecting the Prime Minister of India and, in some cases, their family. It was formed in 1988 by an Act of ...

(SPG), and others. In April 2016, an Italian court said there was "reasonable belief that corruption took place" in the 2010 VVIP helicopter deal and that former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi was involved. Following necessary investigations, Tyagi was arrested by the Indian

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

on 9 December 2016. In December 2016, Italy's Highest Court ordered a retrial of the case. In January 2018, the Italian courts said there was "insufficient proof that any bribery took place" and acquitted Giussepe Orsi (ex CEO) and Bruno Spagnolini (head of helicopter division) of all charges.

References

External links

"''S P Tyagi is new IAF chief''"
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Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

article dated 1 January 2005 * एस पी त्यागी

Middleman says he met SP Tyagi '6-7 times' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyagi, Shashindra Pal Chiefs of the Air Staff (India) Indian Air Force air marshals 1945 births Living people Ministry of Defence (India) Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal People from Indore Indian prisoners and detainees Corruption in defence procurement in India National Defence College, India alumni