Chopper deal: Ex-Aeromatrix director Gautam Khaitan denies involvement

Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan rubbished charges of his involvement in the controversial Agusta Westland deal for 12 VVIP choppers.

New Delhi: Rubbishing charges of his involvement in the controversial Agusta Westland deal for 12 VVIP choppers, Delhi-based lawyer and former director of Chandigarh-based IT company Aeromatrix, Gautam Khaitan, on Thursday said that he has never met with any official of the Italian company, Finmeccanica.

Aeromatrix and Khaitan’s names had cropped up during investigation into the alleged kickbacks paid by Finmeccanica to secure the deal with India. “I am neither involved in the deal nor have met with any official of the company. I was working with Aeromatrix as a lawyer and they had only appointment me as the director to deal the legal aspects related to the company,” said Khaitan. The matter came to light following the arrest of Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi in Milan on January 12 over allegations of bribery for securing the deal with India. In view of media reports, the Ministry of Defence through the Ministry of External Affairs had sought information from the Governments of Italy and UK and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe has been ordered on January 12. ANI