The News Minute | August 27, 2014 | 03:18 pm ISTCommentSo the government of India will honour its word to AgustaWestland for the period and products of what’s left of the nixed deal but the parent company Finmeccanica will be barred from bidding for future contracts. That bribes were paid for the VVIP helicopters has been established, a middleman was extradited from Switzerland to Italy where the court proceedings were held, there was plea bargaining, Indians and others had dipped their hands in the honey-pot and there was an international arrest warrant.Finmeccanica has denied all charges and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is seized of the matter. In other words the money trail is being investigated and the CBI’s record in these matters is not stellar. They can open and close cases without much transparency and accountability. Maybe things are different this time around. Instead of punishing the guilty New Delhi has punished itself or snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by black-listing the helicopter manufacturer. There was nothing wrong with the helicopters – in fact they are among the world’s best and the price was competitive. The problem was the bribes, as it was in l’affaire Bofors. The howitzers were the worlds’ best, the price was competitive, the problem was the bribes.The damage done to procurement and domestic manufacturing and above all the morale of the defence forces cannot be under-estimated. Secondly, bans are no way to do business and if this continues India will be left holding the short end of the stick. Commissions are a fact of life in arms deals and there are voices calling for them to be legalized so the sleaze and slush that accompany arms deals are minimized. Delhi’s lobbyists and arms dealers are part of its high society and not gnomes that operate in an underworld. In the case of Bofors and Agusta, the product was not sacrificed i.e. the helicopters and the howitzers were good. If the guilty get away this time too, India would have scored yet another auto goal. Read more: India bans Finmeccanica from bidding for contracts amid graft case