New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday posted for January 9 the hearing on the plea of the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking cancellation of bail to former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief S.P. Tyagi in the AgustaWestland chopper deal case.

Justice I.S. Mehta posted the plea for Monday after Tyagi's counsel sought time to file a response on the plea.

Tyagi the first chief of any wing of the armed forces to be arrested in the country and two others were allegedly involved in irregularities in the procurement of 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters from Britain-based AgustaWestland.

Tyagi was granted bail by a trial court on December 26. He was the Air Force Chief from 2004 to 2007.

The CBI challenged the trial court's order dated December 26.

The CBI told the High Court that if Tyagi remained out on bail then he can try to hamper the investigation and tamper with the evidence related to the case.

Tyagi remained in custody for 18 days. He was arrested on December 9 but later released on bail.

The former IAF Chief has denied the charges of kickbacks.

The order on bail for the other two accused Tyagi's cousin Sanjeev Tyagi and Gautam Khaitan, a Delhi-based lawyer will be delivered on January 4 by the trial court.