AgustaWestland deal alleged middleman Christian Michel moves Delhi court seeking special cell in Tihar jail

AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal alleged middleman Christian Michel on Friday moved an application before the Patiala House Court in the national capital seeking a special cell in the Tihar jail.

Michel was on Wednesday sent to 10 days judicial custody by a Delhi court till December 28. The 57-year-old British national was in CBI custody which ended on Wednesday. His counsel Aljo K Joseph has said that Michel is suffering from dyslexia and has been asked to write in cursive.

His name surfaced in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper deal in 2012 as one of the three middlemen for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and making illegal kickbacks to the Indian authorities. The other two middlemen are Ralph Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The special judge on December 15 allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to quiz Michel till December 19. The CBI is grilling Michel since December 4 when he was extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As per reports, the CBI needs more examination of Michel who is being confronted with documents the agency has as evidence of the corrupt practice during the deal. 

The CBI has informed the court that voluminous documents have been received from five countries pursuant to the Letters of Request and a number of documents are yet to be confronted with the accused.