In a major legal victory for India, a Dubai Court on Tuesday ordered extradition of Christian Michel, middleman in AgustaWestland chopper scam.
In a major legal victory for India, a Dubai Court on Tuesday ordered extradition of Christian Michel, middleman in AgustaWestland chopper scam.
Michel’s statement had sparked a controversy when he claimed that he was asked to implicate UPA leaders Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel. He had claimed he was asked to specify in writing that 'Family' and 'AP' stood for the Gandhi family and the Rajya Sabha MP.
In an interview to an Indian media outlet, Michel said that he would have been allowed to walk free had he done so and claimed he could obtain CCTV footage to prove that he met CBI officials.
The Dubai Court’s order is first of several such extradition requests that Indian probe agencies have filed in various countries. In June, Italy had refused to extradite Carlo Gerosa, another alleged middleman in AgustaWestland bribery scandal, saying it did not have any mutual legal assistance treaty with India.
Meanwhile, as part of the ongoing investigation the Enforcement Directorate had filed a supplementary chargesheet in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper bribery scam against former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi, his two cousins, lawyer Gautam Khaitan, two Italian middlemen and Finmeccanica in July this year.
The chargesheet was filed before special judge Arvind Kumar and will be taken up for consideration on July 20.
The chargesheet, filed through special public prosecutor N K Matta, names as accused the Tyagi brothers, including SP Tyagi, Khaitan, Italian middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke, and Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland.
Apart from the ED, the CBI has also filed a chargesheet in the case. The agency has alleged that there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.
The CBI had earlier alleged that during his tenure as air force chief, Tyagi and, with his approval, the Air Force conceded to reduce the mandatory service ceiling for VVIP helicopters from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres.
The Indian Air Force was vehemently opposing the service ceiling reduction on the grounds of security constraints and other related reasons.
(With agency inputs)
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