Christian Michel passing chits to lawyers asking how to tackle questions on Sonia Gandhi: ED

Enforcement Directorate on Saturday told a Delhi court that Christian Michel, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, had named 'Mrs Gandhi', but did not specify in which context the reference was made.

The ED also told the special court that Christian Michel had spoken about ‘the son of the Italian lady’ and how he is going to become the ‘next prime minister of the country".

ED's lawyer said that Michel has spelt out how state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was removed from the deal and how it was offered to Tata instead.

ED also sought to ban Michel's lawyer's access to him alleging that he is being tutored from outside.

The Rs 3600 crore deal for the procuring of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland Company signed in 2010 is mired into a controversy because of allegation that bribes were paid. 

Michel had earlier claimed that he would be allowed to 'walk free' if he implicated Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Both the agencies had notified an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant.

Alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal Christian James Michel had been extradited to India in an operation under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The operation was coordinated by interim CBI Director M Nageswar Rao and a team of the agency's officers led by Joint Director Sai Manohar was in Dubai to bring him back.

The Dubai government had cleared the extradition of Michel after his appeal against the move was turned down by a court there. Michel, 57, was behind bars in Dubai since he was

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Both the agencies had notified an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The CBI has alleged 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.

Union Min Prakash Javadekar on ED says Christian Michel spoke about 'son of Italian lady': "Revelations by ED show that there is ‘son of Italian lady’,‘big man’&‘R’ involved. It points towards a family. Congress govt was a govt of corruption that compromised with national security."

RPN Singh Congress on ED says Christian Michel has taken the name of "Mrs Gandhi": There is pressure on Michel to name a particular family, why is the chowkidaar trying to pressurize the govt agencies to name a family? BJP script writers are working over time.