CBI to continue grilling Christian Michel as Delhi Court extends his custodial interrogation

New Delhi, December 10: Making new developments in the AgustaWestland scam, the Delhi High Court on Monday granted an extension of further 5-day remand of Christian Michel, the alleged middleman who has been chargesheeted in the graft-tainted AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, for his custodial interrogation by the CBI.

 

Christian Michel was produced before Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar after the expiry of his five-day CBI remand. The probe agency sought nine days further remand of Michel for his custodial interrogation saying he was not cooperating in the investigation of the case. Michel's counsel opposed the CBI plea for further custody saying it was not required as no incriminating evidence has been shown to him till now.

At the outset, Michel withdrew his earlier bail plea and filed fresh detailed bail application.

Christian Michel, was bought to India on the night of December 4, following his extradition by the UAE in connection with the case and later produced before the court which had allowed his five-day custodial interrogation by the CBI. The court had asked the CBI to provide all relevant documents including the charge sheet to Michel.

Background

The AgustaWestland case involves the deal to purchase 12 luxury helicopters for use by the President, Prime Minister, former prime ministers and other VIPs, when Dr Manmohan Singh's Congress-led coalition was in power.

In 2014, the government scrapped the contract amid allegations that AgustaWestland, whose parent company Finmeccanica faced charges of bribery in Italy, had paid kickbacks in India. The Enforcement Directorate has accused Michel of receiving about 225 crore rupees from AgustaWestland as kickbacks. An open non-bailable arrest warrant in September 2015 was issued against him by the special CBI Court.

Michel was arrested by UAE authorities in February last year after CBI and the ED had notified an Interpol red corner notice against him. A charge sheet was filed against him in September last year. He is one of the three middlemen being examined in the case, along with Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.