The External Affairs Ministry has directed a number of Indian missions abroad to ask the countries concerned to speed up executing Letters Rogatory (LR) in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam, following a request by the CBI.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had a few days ago written to the MEA on expediting the execution of LRs, which are judicial requests to foreign countries for legal assistance in criminal cases.
The LRs were issued to Italy, Tunisia, Mauritius, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, Britain, the UAE and Switzerland.
“Yes, I can confirm that we have received a communication in this regard from the CBI, seeking an update on the execution reports of the Letters Rogatory that were sent earlier to eight countries,” said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
He added: “We have once again written to our missions in the countries concerned from where the execution reports are pending in order to impress upon them the need to expeditiously execute the LRs and to send the corresponding execution reports at the earliest.”
Sources said a few countries have either responded to the LRs or executed them partly while some others are yet to respond.