His questioning comes a week after former West Bengal governor M K Narayanan was quizzed by the CBI after which he demitted his office.
The CBI team questioned Wanchoo in Panaji and recorded his statement.
Sources said the need to record statements of Wanchoo and Narayanan was felt as both had participated in the meeting in 2005 that allowed key changes in the technical specifications of the chopper.
The CBI had registered a case against former IAF chief S P Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen in the case.
The allegation against the former IAF chief was that he had reduced flying ceiling of the helicopter so that AgustaWestland was included in the bids. Tyagi has refuted the allegation against him.
The CBI has alleged reduction of the service ceiling, maximum height at which a helicopter can perform normally, allowed UK-based firm to get into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters were not even qualified for submission of bids.
The investigating agency claims the parameters regarding the height at which the helicopter can fly as well as the flight evaluation were changed in a manner that enabled AgustaWestland to clinch the deal vis-a-vis its competitor Sikorsky.
Pleased to give statement to CBI, says Wanchoo
Goa Governor BV Wanchoo said he was ‘pleased’ to give his statement to the CBI and hoped that the investigating agency would bring out the truth in the case at the earliest.
A statement issued by Wanchoo’s office after the CBI team left his official residence in Panaji said the Governor recorded his statement as a ‘witness’ in the VVIP helicopter case under Section 161 CrPC.
Under this section, any police officer may examine orally any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of a case.
According to the statement, Wanchoo, after becoming aware that the CBI was desirous of recording his statement as a witness, was very keen that the same be recorded at the earliest for the purpose of completing the legal process in the case.
“The Governor was, therefore, happy when a formal request from the CBI was received on June 24 where after the CBI was intimated that they could record the Governor's statement in Goa,” the statement said.
“The Governor was, therefore, pleased to give his statement as a witness today,” the statement said, adding that Wanchoo hoped that ‘his statement would have clarified any issues that the CBI may have had and hopes that the CBI would conclude their investigation to bring out the truth at the very earliest’.
West Bengal Governor resigns after being questioned
West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan, who was questioned as a witness by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the VVIP chopper deal, stepped down from his post on June 30.
The resignation of 80-year-old Narayanan came days after Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami had telephoned some of the Governors, appointed by the previous UPA regime, to step down after Narendra Modi-led NDA government assumed charge at the Centre.
Narayanan was the National Security Adviser in 2005 when Indian officials decided to amend technical specifications for 12 helicopters that the UPA government wanted to buy for use by the Prime Minister and President.
The chopper deal in which allegations of Rs 360-crore bribe were levelled was scrapped by the former Congress-led UPA government in 2013.
The investigating agency claims the parameters regarding the height at which the helicopters can fly as also the flight evaluation were changed in a manner that enabled AgustaWestland to clinch the deal vis-a-vis its competitor Sikorsky.
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