Italian court rejects Indian request

An Italian court hearing a VVIP chopper deal scam case with India has rejected New Delhi's request for sharing details on the probe, reported local media Saturday. Saying the issue was "covered by secrecy", the judge of preliminary investigations of the tribunal, Busto Arsizio Luca Labianca, told the Indian embassy in Rome that it was "not possible to give a positive reply" to the Indian request, the Press Trust of India quoted Indian official sources as saying. The Indian government is sending a joint defense secretary to Italy to gather "as much evidence as possible" relating to the allegations of corruption in the acquisition of 12 VVIP helicopters for the Indian Air Force from Italian firm AgustaWestland. Indian embassy in Rome had made the request for the details and documents of the probe after the arrest of Finmeccanica chief Giuseppe Orsi in connection with allegations that kickbacks to the tune of 3.6 billion rupees (70 million U.S. dollar) crore were paid in the 36 billion rupee (700 million U.S. dollars) deal, said the report. The scam could have overwhelming impact on the Congress-led government of India one year away from the next general election.