India grants consular access to Christian Michel; can communicate with family members

New Delhi, January 11: With the arrest of Christian Michel, India has sought many unknown and hidden facts of the Augusta Westland case and also the recent news of Michel lobbying for the Rafale brewed the ongoing allegations slated in the Parliament sessions.

With twists and turns sought in the Christian Michel case and revelations of many unknown shocking facts coming into limelight, India on Thursday granted consular access to Christian Michel who is the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AugustaWestland chopper deal. Michel had been extradited to India from the UAE after having been arrested in Dubai and is currently at the Tihar Jail.

Spokesperson from the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar in his press briefing on Friday quoted, “He (Christian Michel) has been granted consular access. A second secretary-level officer from the British High Commission has met Christian Michel based on the request we received last month.”

Furthermore, Kumar added, “We have shared in the past that he has been allowed to communicate with his family members. I have not seen the plea which he has entered on this matter (now).” He said that should the British High Commission request for more communication, MEA will duly consider it. He is one among the three middlemen who are allegedly involved in the deal.

The two others, Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, are currently being probed by CBI and ED. It is alleged that Michel received 30 million euros (Rs 225 crore) from AugustaWestland. The CBI’s chargesheet says that the country has lost Rs 2,666 crore as a result of the deal signed in 2010.

In a recent revelation by ED to the Delhi High Court, the department mentioned that Michel had cited Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s name in connection to the VVIP Chopper scam case.