Legal Fight Looms Over India’s Troubled AW101 Acquisition
AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE » OCTOBER 18, 2013 by NEELAM MATHEWS The Indian government appears poised to cancel its scandal-tainted contract for 12 AgustaWestland AW101 executive helicopters. (Photo: AgustaWestland) October 18, 2013, 11:15 AM India’s attorney general, Goolamhussein Essaji Vahanvati, ruled last week that AgustaWestland breached contractual obligations and an associated “integrity pact” in winning a $787 million contract to supply 12 AW 101 VIP helicopters to the Indian Air Force ( IAF ) in 2010, raising the possibility the government will cancel the deal. AgustaWestland and parent company Finmeccanica have continued to deny any wrongdoing and on October 4 the Italian manufacturer formally requested arbitration over the stalled contract. In a written statement AgustaWestland said, “We have no further information compared to what [has been] published by the press. We have not received ...