B V Wanchoo, the Governor of Goa resigned

Bharat Vir Wanchoo, the Governor of Goa resigned on 4 July 2014. He is the fifth Governor to resign in last one month after M K Narayanan (West Bengal), B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh) and Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland).

Also, he became the second Governor to be quizzed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after M K Narayanan. He is being quizzed as a witness in connection with the alleged irregularities in the 12 helicopters deal meant for VVIPs from AgustaWestland.

About BV Wanchoo
• He is Indian Police Service officer of 1976 batch of West Bengal cadre
• He was appointed Director of the Special Protection Group (SPG) in 2004 and continued in that post till his retirement in 2011
• SPG was created in 1985 after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It protects the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and their families
• He was awarded the Indian Police Medal in 1993 and was awarded President's Police Medal in 2001
• He became Governor of Goa in May 2012 and his tenure was scheduled to end in 2017

About the AgustaWestland Deal
The AgustaWestland 3600-crore deal was signed in 2010 and was cancelled in January 2014 by India. The reason for cancellation was allegations that kickbacks were paid by AgustaWestland and its parent company (Italian defence giant Finnmeccanica). The 12 VVIP helicopters, for which the deal was signed was to be used by the President, Prime Minister and others VVIPs.

AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian helicopter company owned by Italy’s Finmeccanica, is a total capability provider in the vertical lift market.

Comment
This process of questioning the Governors by the CBI has raised questions on whether Governors are entitled to the Constitutional immunity from interrogation or not. Whereas, as per the Raj Bhawan release, Wanchoo volunteered to give his statement after the CBI formally requested him on 24 June 2014.