Air Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi was born on March 14th, 1945 at Indore and received his education from St Xavier School in Jaipur. On 31st December 1963, he joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the fighter stream and initially he served with No.23 and No.27 Squadron. Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi bravely fought both the Indo- Pakistan wars of 1965 and the 1971. He was selected for the first batch of conversion on Jaguar Interdiction aircraft when it was introduced in 1980s. Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi was one of the two Indian Pilots who got selected for a Photo Recce Course at Coltishall when he was taking at Lossiemouth. He returned to India and commanded the No.14 Squadron.
Early Life of Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi
He graduated from Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) with a Fighter Combat Leader and Pilot Attack Instructor qualifications. Apart from that he did many courses including Junior Commanders Course, National Defence College courses and Defence Services Staff College courses. In 1985 he was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for his dedicated service. Air Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi was appointed as an instructor at TACDE. After that he was sent to Saudi Arabia as the Defence Attache at the Indian Consulate. In 1994 he received the Ati Vishist Seva Medal and in 2003, Air Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi was appointed as one of the Honorary ADCs of the President of India. His other major appointments are Director Operations of Air Defence, ACAS of Intelligence etc. Air Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi was also the instructor of Defence Services Staff College at Wellington.
Career of Air Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi
Shashindra Pal Tyagi was promoted at the rank of Air Marshal and posted as the SASO of Central Air Command for a short period. After that he was appointed as the Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Central Air Command. He also commanded the Central, South-Western and Western Air Command. Air Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi assumed the charge of 20th Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 31st December 2004. Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi was the recipient of Param Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM) in 2003 for his distinguished service to the nation. He retired from the Indian Army Force on 31st March 2007.
Controversies surrounding Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi
Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi is the first Air Force chief to have been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 9th, 2016. He has been alleged to have received paybacks to change the technical specifications of the helicopters which favoured Finmeccanica, the Italian company that produces Augsta Westland helicopters. The CBI has determined that about Rs. 450 crore, or 12 per cent of the Rs. 3,767-crore deal for procurement of 12 helicopters was paid as bribes. The government rescinded the contract in January 2014 in view of the bribery allegations.
