Delhi court allows ED to interrogate Christian Michel

A Delhi court has allowed the Enforcement Directorate to interrogate alleged middleman Christian Michel at the Tihar central jail , where he is lodged in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam case. Special Judge Pulastya Pramachala on Saturday allowed the ED to interrogate Michel on May 25 and 26 in the jail premises.

The court allowed the ED's plea moved by the agency's special public prosecutor N K Matta after he submitted during a hearing held through video conferencing that the accused was required to be confronted with certain documents during its ongoing probe in the case. Michel, extradited from Dubai, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on December 22, 2018.

On January 5, 2019 Michel was sent to judicial custody in the ED case. He is also lodged in judicial custody in the CBI case related to the scam. He was arrested in the UAE and extradited to India on December 4, 2018. The next day, he was produced before the court which allowed his custodial interrogation by the CBI.  Later, he was arrested by the ED.

Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The others are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The CBI has alleged that there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (about 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 ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.