PANJIM: The timing couldn’t have been more synchronized. A little before the Toyota Qualis carrying the CBI team arrived, Goa Governor B V Wanchoo received a call from the Union Home Secretary, Anil Goswami. It was short. Wanchoo was told to resign to which he immediately agreed.
As he ended the call, his phone buzzed again to announce that his guests, the CBI had arrived. And after they left, Governor Wanchoo sent his resignation to the President of India. The Rashtrapati Bhavan confirmed the receipt of a fax but refused to comment with a spokesman saying that it is privileged communication. Later Home Secretary Goswami confirmed the receipt of the governor’s resignation.
Importantly, very senior government sources at the highest level have informed that Raj Bhavan has sought to indicate and convey that the two developments are independent and his resignation, in response to the call from the Union Home Secretary, should not be linked to the visit of the CBI. Unfortunately for the affable governor, this will be something difficult to sustain.
Wanchoo, a much loved people’s governor was in the Goa Raj Bhavan for a little over two years. His proximity to the Gandhi’s got him the top job as the head of the famed Special Protection Group, which cast him into the forefront of the deal with AugustaWestland for the purchase of 12 helicopters for VVIP movement in 2010. As the deal got mired in controversy, a parliamentary probe was conducted and then the CBI was handed over the case.
CBI sources said that the governor is being questioned as witness in the probe into allegations of bribery paid to Indian officials in the Rs 3600 crore VVIP chopper deal. The deal was scrapped by the UPA government in January, this year.
A team from the CBI that quizzed Wanchoo at Raj Bhavan, recorded the statement under Section 161 Cr.P.C. Wanchoo is the second person to be questioned by the agency after Narayanan, a former National Security Advisor or NSA, holding a gubernatorial post.
Wanchoo, through a press statement issued by Raj Bhavan soon after said that “he 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.”
“The governor after he became aware through the media several months back that the CBI was desirous of recording his statement as a witness, was very keen that the same be recorded at the very earliest for the purpose of completing the legal process in the above case,” the statement reads.
The communiqué mentioned that the governor was, therefore, happy when a formal request from the CBI was received on June 24, 2014, after which the CBI was intimated that they could record the governor’s statement in Goa.
Two actions, not linked
Wanchoo told to resign by Union Home Secretary, Goswami, on Friday morning
Goswami called, just before the CBI team reached Raj Bhavan Goa
Raj Bhavan seeks to indicate that the two actions are not linked to each other
Wanchoo’s role
India signed a contract to purchase 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters in February 2010.
India cancelled the Rs 3,600 crore deal with AgustaWestland in January 2014, “on grounds of breach of the Pre-contract Integrity Pact and the agreement by AWIL”.
The CBI approached Union Law Ministry to record M K Narayanan and B V Wanchoo statements which were considered vital as they were national security adviser and Special Protection Group (SPG) chief at the time of signing of contract.
Their views were also considered before Indian Government signed the contract with AgustaWestland.
The CBI therefore approached President Pranab Mukherjee to seek permission to examine Narayanan and B V Wanchoo
