Shashindra Pal Tyagi Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi ( born 14 March 1945 ) , more commonly known as S P Tyagi , is the former Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force . Prior to becoming chief of Indian Air Force , he was commanding the Western Air Command of the Air Force . He was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF on December 31 , 1963 . He is said to have " actively participated " in the 1965 and 1971 wars . Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi took over as the 20th Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 31 December 2004 . Popularly known as " Bundle " , Tyagi was born at Indore on March 14 , 1945 . He is an alumnus of St Xavier School in Jaipur . He was commissioned in the IAF on 31 December 1963 in the fighter stream . The initial years of his career in the air force , Tyagi flew Gnats with No . 23 Squadron and later served with Hunters of No . 27 Squadron . A veteran of both the 1965 and the 1971 Wars , he was one of the pioneer batch of eight pilots selected for conversion on the Jaguar Interdiction aircraft when it was inducted in 1980s . Whilst training at Lossiemouth , he was one of the two Indian pilots chosen for a Photo Recce Course at Coltishall with No . 41 Squadron RAF . Tyagi commanded No . 14 Squadron " Bulls " later after coming back to India . A Graduate of the TACDE with a Fighter Combat Leader and Pilot Attack Instructor qualifications , he had also attended the Junior Commanders Course , the National Defence College and finally the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington . He received the Vayu Sena Medal ( VM ) for distinguished service in 1985 . In his mid career , Tyagi had several other appointments under his belt . He was an instructor at TACDE . As an Air Commodore , Tyagi commanded 33 Wing at Jamnagar . Later he was also posted as the Defence Attache at the Indian Consulate in Saudi Arabia . Air Commodore Tyagi was awarded the Ati Vishist Seva Medal ( AVSM ) in 1994 . He also held the appointments of Director Operations ( Air Defence ) , ACAS ( Intelligence ) , ACAS ( Ops ) . He has had a stint as a senior fellow at the IDSA and was also a senior Instructor and Directing Staff at the DSSC Wellington . In the rank of Air Marshal , Tyagi was appointed as the SASO of Central Air Command for some time . He took over as the AOC - in - C of Central Air Command not soon after . he is one of the few officers to have the distinction of commanding three Air Commands , Central , South Western and Western Air Command . Air Marshal Tyagi was awarded the Param Vishist Seva Medal ( PVSM ) in 2003 , and was appointed as one of the honorary ADCs of the President of India . He has the distinction of being the one and only Air Chief Marshal to have done skydiving after being appointed to a high post as Chief of the Air Staff of Indian Air Force . He is married to Mrs . Vandana Tyagi and they have a son and a daughter . Controversies . Air Marshal Tyagi was briefly named in an Italian Investigation into bribes paid to secure a Helicopter Contract , although further information created doubts in the matter . As per the unverified testimoy of an Italian businessman , Air Marshal Tyagi received illegal payments to change the technical specifications of the helicopters which favored Augsta Westland which was finally awarded the deal . However , further investigation showed that the technical specifications were changed prior to his tenure on the orders of Brajesh Mishra , the National Security Adviser , in the Prime Minister ' s office ( PMO ) . According to the investigators , 21 million euros ( about Rs 150 crore ) were paid as kickbacks under the cover of engineering contracts reportedly through companies IDS Tunisia and IDS India . Air Chief Marshal Tyagi has no links to these companies . Further investigations done by leading media outlets revealed that the core contention - that ACM Tyagi changed specifications to favor Augusta Westland - was false . Detailed government documents revealed that the decision taken to change the technical specification were suggested and agreed upon by stake holders from multiple government agencies , including the Prime _ Minister ' s Office , the SPG , and others , further weakening the statement that ACM Tyagi changed them .