NEW DELHI: Contradicting Congress claims, a senior government source said the Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland was not blacklisted during the UPA regime.
The Centre will now seek a report from the CBI, which had registered a case in 2013 in connection with the VVIP chopper scam, and initiate moves to blacklist AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica.
The Congress on Tuesday claimed in Parliament that AgustaWestland had been blacklisted under the UPA government but that it was “removed” from the blacklist by the Modi government. Congress leader Anand Sharma had said, “The chopper deal was scrapped. Action was taken by the UPA government. A K Antony, the then Defence Minister, had made a statement in Parliament and AgustaWestland was blacklisted.”
However, a government source said, “The only punitive action taken by the Congress was in January 2014, just before the Lok Sabha elections, when the UPA government encashed the bank guarantee. They never blacklisted the company”.