VVIP chopper accused sent to 5-day CBI custody
AGUSTAWESTLAND Christian Michel extradited from UAE, interrogated by CBI NEW DELHI:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the extradition of British businessman Christian James Michel, the alleged middleman in the multimillion-dollar AgustaWestland helicopter deal, during one of the last election rallies in Rajasthan on Wednesday to target the Congress party.
Michel, 57, arrived in India shortly before midnight on Tuesday after being deported from Dubai, bringing back into focus a ₹3,600-crore deal for 12 AgustaWestland helicopters that was eventually scrapped after allegations emerged that kickbacks had been paid to ensure the contract went to the Italy-based manufacturer Finmeccanica (now known as the Leonardo Group).
“You must have read in today’s newspapers about VVIP helicopter scam of thousands of crore. You would be aware about a letter of madam Sonia Gandhi. When we came to power to find out the files, we kept searching for it and finally found a ‘razdar’ (one who knows all secrets) who served powerful people,” Modi said at an election rally in Rajasthan’s Sumerpur.
The Congress, which was in power when the controversial deal took place and was scrapped, called the allegations part of a “smear campaign”.
Michel, a citizen of United Kingdom, was brought to New Delhi on Tuesday night on a special flight and taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation headquarters. He was produced before special CBI judge Arvind Kumar on Wednesday afternoon.
Michel’s advocate asked the court to send him to judicial custody but the CBI sought 14 days’ custodial interrogation to confront him with evidence and follow the money trail in the scam.
The judge allowed the agency to interrogate Michel for five days and asked the agency to provide all relevant documents including the charge sheet to the accused.
A bail plea was also moved on Michel’s behalf but the court did not give any specific date for hearing it.
Michel is one of three middlemen being investigated in the case, in addition to Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
According to the CBI charge sheet, several parameters were tweaked to help AgustaWestland bag a contract for 12 helicopters that were primarily meant to transport VVIPs. These parameters included the height of the cabin of the helicopter and the maximum altitude the helicopter could fly to.
These tweaks were made after bribes were paid, which came out in an Italian investigation. Three of the contracted 12 helicopters had been delivered to the Indian Air Force before the allegations became public.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the extradition of British businessman Christian James Michel, the alleged middleman in the multimilliondollar AgustaWestland helicopter deal, during one of the last election rallies in Rajasthan on Wednesday to target the Con-