Christian Michel named 'Mrs Gandhi', 'son of Italian lady': ED to court

NEW DELHI: Christian Michel, the accused in AgustaWestland chopper scam case, took the name of "Mrs Gandhi" and also spoke about "the son of the Italian lady" who is going to be "the next Prime Minister of the country," the Enforcement Directorate told Delhi's Patiala House Court on Saturday.

"Christian Michel has taken the name of Mrs Gandhi but in what reference can't be said now," ED told the court today.

In its plea seeking extension of Michel's custody, the ED said that it needs to find out who is the "big man" referred to as "R" in Michel's communication with others.

"We need to confront Michel with other people to decipher who “the big man” or “R” is," the ED told the court.

The probe agency also alleged that Michel was misusing the liberty of legal assistance during his interrogation by passing chits to his lawyers asking how to tackle questions on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

In response to ED's allegations, Michel’s lawyer Aljo K Joseph told the court that his client had a query regarding something and how the legal response needs to be given.

"He tried to give us something, we didn’t see what it was. It was immediately pointed out that he was slipping us a paper and it was taken away," Joseph said.

The court then ordered Michel’s lawyers to maintain distance while meeting him, adding that they can only meet him for 15 minutes every morning and evening.

Michel, the ED said, also revealed how Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) was dropped from the chopper deal, which was subsequently offered to Tatas. "Michel has identified how HAL was removed from the deal which was offered to Tata instead," the ED said.

After hearing the arguments, the court extended Michel's ED custody by seven more days.

Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that Michel is being pressurized by the government to name a "particular family."

"Why is the chowkidaar trying to pressurize the government agencies to name a family? BJP script writers are working over time," Congress leader RPN Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Reacting to the development, the BJP said that ED's revelation in court shows how the Congress looted the country when they were in power.

"What ED told the court today has stung the entire nation. The accused in the chopper case has named Mrs Gandhi as per the ED ... Michel's interrogation has also revealed new nouns and adverbs in the chopper scam saga," BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said, referring to terms like "Big man" and "R" disclosed by the probe agency today.

"Now the picture is more clear because he (Michel) has said things like son of Italian lady, R, party leader, big man ... all this is coming out now," Javadekar added.

Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the VVIP chopper scam case by the Enforcement Directorate and CBI. The others are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
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