Patiala House Court takes cognisance of ED's Agusta case chargesheet, Christian Michel asked to be present on May 9

The Patiala House Court has taken cognisance of the ED's supplementary chargesheet in the Agusta Westland case and has summoned accused Christian Michel on May 9.

The copy of the chargesheet will be supplied to Michel during the course of the day.

The ED has told the court that Michel’s plea against the chargesheet is not maintainable. The court has asked the ED to file a detailed reply to Christian Michel’s plea. 

The investigation agency also told the court that they have admissible evidence that there is much more than meets the eye. The ED has said that they will give the status report in a sealed cover to the judge. 

The evidence submitted by the ED has been kept in a sealed cover by the court.

WATCH: Ahmed Patel Calls 'AP = Ahmed Patel' Reference In ED's Agusta Chargesheet A 'jumla', Accuses PM Modi Of 'gutter Politics'

In what came as a massive development days before the first vote is cast, Republic TV accessed the 52-pages full explosive ED fourth supplementary chargesheet in the Agusta Westland case which breaks open and unravels every detail in the case. 

Christian Michel, the alleged middleman arrested in the Agusta Westland case and is understood to have identified the initials "AP" as Ahmed Patel in the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before a court on Thursday.

As per the chargesheet, ED concludes that Michel acknowledges knowing 'Mrs. Gandhi'. Michel further reveals that he was in touch with 'Mrs Gandhi' and knew her since 1986-87.

Earlier, the investigating agencies had recovered hand-written diary notings detailing the alleged kickbacks paid for the 12 AW-101 Agusta Westland deal.  These noting mentioned ‘FAM’, ‘AP’ among others – answers to which were unknown so far. However, as per ED conclusion, Christian Michel has revealed that 'AP’ stands for Ahmed Patel and 'FAM’ was the abbreviation for ‘Family'.  

The agency, in its supplementary chargesheet filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said "a part of kickback was paid to defence officials, bureaucrats, mediapersons and important political persons of the ruling party" when the deal was being struck.

The chargesheet said according to the "budget sheet, 30 million euros were paid to Air Force officers, bureaucrats and politicians" to swing the deal in the favour of Agusta Westland for purchasing the choppers to ferry VVIPs across the country.

READ | Sensational Revelations In ED Chargesheet: Christian Michel Admits Paying Journalists, Influencing Media

In the same chargesheet, Rajiv Saxena, another accused arrested in the case, has been quoted by the ED as saying that "AP" was a "reference" to Ahmed Patel.

The ED said the kickback paid by the Anglo-Italian firm in the case was "at least about 12 per cent of the contract amount" and around 70 million euros were paid through the two middlemen involved in the case -- Michel and Guido Haschke.

It added that this was an "undisputed fact" that the two middlemen had received kickbacks worth 70 million euros.