AgustaWestland Case: British High Commission gets consular access to Christian Michel

The British High Commission in India on Friday got consular access to Christian Michel, who is the alleged middleman in AgustaWestland case.

Agusta Westland

New Delhi: The British High Commission in India on Friday got consular access to Christian Michel, who is the alleged middleman in AgustaWestland case. Michel was brought to Delhi from the United Arab Emirates on December 4. Christian Michel was extradited to India from the UAE last month. Both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which probes economic offences are investigating Michel. “Our staff are supporting a British man who is detained in India, and have visited him to check his welfare,” the High Commission said in a statement, according to ANI. The UK had requested for consular access to Michel,57, the allegedly middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper deal signed and scrapped by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The deal has now turned into a political slugfest between the opposition party and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Michel is one of the three middlemen, being investigated by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. Michel has denied the charges. 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.